Republican Templeton raises $700K in bid to unseat Gov. McMaster

Catherine Templeton raised $700,000 in 2017’s first three months to fuel her effort to upseat Republican Gov. Henry McMaster.

Notable contributors to the Mount Pleasant Republican’s campaign include former S.C. tax chiefs Burnie Maybank and Rick Reames; Columbia attorney and Santee Cooper chairman Leighton Lord; GOP booster and Cox Industries chief executive Mikee Johnson; GOP presidential fundraiser and Spartanburg financial consultant Barry Wynn; and former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge.

Of Templeton’s 486 contributors, 128 gave the $3,500 maximum allowable contribution for the election cycle.

Templeton, who head of South Carolina’s labor and environmental agencies under former GOP Gov. Nikki Haley, made official her candidacy Tuesday in an email announcement.

She will face McMaster, who reported raising $160,000 in his initial filing in January, and former state Sen. Yancey McGill, who had raised nearly $329,000 through January, in the June 2018 GOP primary.

This story was originally published April 6, 2017 at 5:59 PM with the headline "Republican Templeton raises $700K in bid to unseat Gov. McMaster."