President Donald Trump will be across the globe in Singapore for a summit with Kim Jong Un on Tuesday, but his presence will still be felt in the South Carolina gubernatorial Republican primary the same night, as The Wall Street Journal reports.
It is rare for a South Carolina GOP race to be so competitive within the party, but this is no ordinary election. Incumbent Gov. Henry McMaster, 71, took over for Nikki Haley when she was confirmed as President Trump's ambassador to the United Nations, a move seen as a thank you for early Trump support from McMaster.
"He didn't run and win the office," GOP consultant Joel Sawyer told the Journal. "Because of his longevity in politics, people see an opening."
The proof is in the dollars. McMaster has raised $4.4 million and spent $3.6 million as of May 28, while two younger challengers lawyer Catherine Templeton ($3.6 million raised, $2.5 million spent) and entrepreneur John Warren ($3.3 million raised, $2.5 million spent) have also built up campaign war chests, according to the report.
Both Templeton and Warren are running to change the face of politics like President Trump has vowed to.
"We can't kill the snakes slithering around Columbia, but we will end their poisonous big-government ways," Templeton told the Journal.
Warren, meanwhile, is a former Marine running as a political outsider.
"Much like President Trump, John Warren is the only true conservative outsider running for governor," campaign manager Taylor Hall told the Journal. "His opponents are career politicians or political insiders."
The Democratic primary Tuesday pits state Rep. James Smith, technology consultant Phil Noble, and attorney Marguerite Willis, per the Journal, but they are running in a state that has not elected a Democratic governor since 1998.
"We are in the home stretch of this horse race," former Haley spokesman Rob Godfrey told the Journal. "It is headed to a runoff, and it is going to be a photo finish in that runoff."
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