Heirs to two of the most illustrious political names in South Carolina Tuesday night lost run-off races for the statewide offices of lieutenant governor and state superintendent of education.
Mike Campbell, son of the late and much-revered GOP Gov. Carroll Campbell, was beaten for the lieutenant governor nomination by Henry McMaster, former state attorney general and 2010 GOP gubernatorial hopeful.
Also, Sally Atwater, widow of the late Republican National Chairman Lee Atwater, lost the run-off for superintendent to former State Rep. Molly Spearman.
Carroll Campbell and Lee Atwater were considered major players in the Palmetto State going from solidly Democratic to reliably Republican a generation ago. Both Mike Campbell and Sally Atwater had significant backing from national GOP figures in their bids to launch political careers of their own.
The younger Campbell, for example, benefited from significant stumping on his behalf by Mike Huckabee, whose presidential campaign he had chaired in the 2008 presidential primary. Rick Santorum, considered Huckbee's main rival for values voters should they both run for president in 2016, campaigned for McMaster.
But McMaster, who led in the initial primary, had a fervent grass-roots following as one of the first state attorneys general to file a lawsuit against Obamacare and won handily.
Atwater's campaign co-chairmen were former Gov. James Edwards, former Rep. John Napier, and former State GOP Chairman Van D. Hipp. Former President George H.W. Bush, who almost never backs candidates outside his family, endorsed Atwater, as did other Bush family members such as daughter Dorothy Bush Koch.
But Sally Atwater had lived outside the state until a few years ago and had not been active in state politics. Spearman won handily.
© 2023 Newsmax. All rights reserved.