South Carolina: New Candidate

​Last week, new Lt. Gov. Kevin Bryant (R) announced that he had filed a gubernatorial committee but said he had not yet fully decided whether to run for Governor.  Now, he has made such a decision.  On Friday, Mr. Bryant announced that he will challenge new South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster in next year’s Republican primary.
 
Mr. McMaster became Governor in late January when Nikki Haley was confirmed as US Ambassador to the United Nations and resigned her chief executive post.  She had originally been elected Governor in 2010.   Mr. McMaster, the state’s Lt. Governor, ascended to the Governor’s position.  To replace him, the state legislature elected four-term state Sen. Bryant (R-Anderson) as Lt. Governor during the same time frame. 
 
In addition to Mr. Bryant, former Lt. Gov. Yancey McGill and state Labor Department Secretary Catherine Templeton are already in the Republican primary race.  South Carolina hosts a June primary.  If no candidate receives majority support in the partisan primary, the top two advance to a run-off election.  The eventual Republican nominee will be favored to hold the Governorship in the 2018 general election.