- BIG STORY: High prices take center stage in S.C. gov’s race
- ROUNDUP: S.C. GOP sues to close party primaries
- LOWCOUNTRY, Ariail: It’s an invasion
- BRACK: The heat is on in South Carolina, nation
- MYSTERY PHOTO: Orange object
- FEEDBACK: Send us your thoughts
High prices take center stage in S.C. governor’s race
News analysis by Jack O’Toole | The two major party candidates running to be South Carolina’s next governor say they each have plans to ease the affordability crunch that’s squeezing Palmetto State voters — and their solutions tend to reflect the philosophical differences that divide the two major parties.
The play for Republican nominee Alan Wilson, the state’s four-term attorney general, mostly focuses on lowering the cost of government.
“My number one goal is going to be making our economy more affordable for South Carolina families,” Wilson told reporters in April. “And you’re going to do that by eliminating the income tax (and) reducing property taxes.”
He added, “Obviously, there’s a lot of fraud, waste and abuse that causes the cost of government to go up and we’re going to address that as well.”
Democratic nominee Jermaine Johnson, who’s represented Richland County in the state House since 2020, says his plan would cut taxes as well, taking 70% of state income taxpayers off the rolls and reducing the property tax.
But it would also focus on raising the minimum wage for lower-income workers.
“I want people in South Carolina to imagine going to your one well-paying job and coming home to your safe neighborhood after picking your children up from a well-performing public school,” Johnson said in a June 3 Democratic gubernatorial debate. “In order to address that, it starts with establishing a livable minimum wage.”
Campaigns sharpen their pitches
Reached this week, both campaigns outlined specific policy proposals they say would help S.C. consumers deal with rising costs, further underscoring the differences in their approaches.
“South Carolina families are feeling the affordability crisis every day, and the solution starts with putting more money back in people’s pockets,” Johnson said in a July 7 text exchange.
“Our campaign is focused on lowering the cost of living by advancing the South Carolina Resource Independence and Resilience Act to boost in-state production of essential resources and strengthen supply chains, supporting a livable minimum wage, holding insurance companies accountable to bring premiums down, and providing meaningful tax relief for small businesses that create jobs in our communities.
“We believe government should work to make life more affordable and expand economic opportunity for every South Carolinian.”
Meanwhile, Wilson campaign spokesman Woods Wooten told the City Paper in a July 6 email that “every policy in A.G. Alan Wilson’s campaign starts with one question: Will this make life more affordable for South Carolina families?
“That’s why he’s proposed eliminating the state income tax, reforming property taxes by fixing Act 388, cutting government waste through the Families First Audit Initiative, lowering insurance costs through common-sense tort reform and expanding affordable, reliable energy production.”
Wooten added, “A.G. Wilson believes families should be able to keep more of what they earn, afford to buy a home, raise a family, and build their future right here in South Carolina.”
The politics … and the prices
Winthrop political scientist Scott Huffmon, who polled South Carolinians on the issue of affordability in May, said he wasn’t surprised the issue was dominating the current debate.
“Like the rest of the country, we’re struggling here in South Carolina with increased costs just trying to make ends meet,” Huffmon said. “And both candidates are going to focus on that.”
What does that struggle look like? According to the Winthrop Poll, 67% of S.C. residents say they find groceries difficult to afford, while 59% say the same of health care and housing costs. And 61% say that eating out is unaffordable, while 72% say a week-long vacation is beyond their reach.
Price data from the national Urban Institute helps explain why voters are feeling so squeezed.
Since 2017, average monthly grocery prices and health insurance premiums have each risen by almost 40% in S.C. Rent and child care costs are up by more than 46%. And the price of a home has shot up by 68%.
But as University of South Carolina economist Joseph Von Nessen pointed out in a July 7 interview, rising costs for consumer goods are largely beyond the reach of any governor.
“It’s largely national forces that are driving affordability challenges as a whole,” Von Nessen said, noting that the current U.S. inflation rate is 4.2%, while wages are only rising at 3.4%. “People are losing purchasing power. Their dollar just isn’t going as far.”
One place to make a difference
That said, Von Nessen noted there is one area where state government can make a difference: housing. And in fact, each campaign has offered policies to address the issue, with Johnson supporting larger investments in subsidized affordable housing and Wilson calling for lawsuit reform aimed at bringing down the costs of owning a home. In addition, both support further property tax relief.
But any long-term housing affordability solution, Von Nessen said, would also have to involve significantly increasing the supply of new homes to offset S.C.’s rapid population growth, meaning the state would have to work with local governments on zoning, permitting and infrastructure reforms.
“Upward pressure on housing prices is a big part of the affordability challenge,” Von Nessen said, echoing the Urban Institute data. “And while every region of the state is different in terms of finding the appropriate policy, leaders can work to facilitate housing and increase supply, which we need here in South Carolina.”
- To learn more about each candidate’s approach to affordability, visit their campaign websites at wilsonforsc.com and johnsonforsc.com.
Jack O’Toole is Statehouse bureau chief for Statehouse Report and the Charleston City Paper. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com
S.C. GOP sues to close party primaries
By Jack O’Toole, Statehouse bureau | South Carolina Republican Party leaders filed a federal lawsuit this week to win what the state’s GOP-controlled legislature has repeatedly refused to give them: a closed primary system that would require all S.C. voters to register by party.
“In December of last year, our state executive committee voted to give our legislature one last chance to get partisan voter registration passed in our state,” S.C. GOP Chairman Drew McKissick said in a July 8 social media video. “Well now, we’re going to court.”
Under current state law, which has its roots in civil-rights-era federal court rulings that dismantled the Jim Crow primary system that systematically denied Blacks the right to vote, S.C. voters can opt to participate in the primary of their choice, either Democratic or Republican, in any given election season.
According to the lawsuit, that option violates the Republican Party’s First Amendment right to freedom of association, a legal theory also being tested in a similar suit filed by the Texas Republican Party. What’s more, it claims that allowing any voter to participate in GOP primaries allows Democrats to make mischief by crossing party lines and supporting weaker GOP candidates.
Forcing South Carolina voters to register with the state as Republicans, Democrats or Independents and then allowing the parties to close their primaries to all but their own members would eliminate that concern, the suit argues.
But opponents, including Republican Gov. Henry McMaster, note that this alleged mischief doesn’t actually seem to be happening. And the proof, they say, is in the electoral pudding: S.C. Republicans currently hold every state constitutional office, enjoy supermajorities in the S.C. House and Senate, and control eight of nine slots in the state’s federal delegation, including both U.S. Senate seats.
Critics also note that the state of South Carolina pays for the parties’ primaries, complicating the claim that the GOP is essentially a private club that should be able to enforce private membership rules about who can and can’t participate.
No hearings in the matter have been announced.
In other recent news
S.C.’s new anti-squatting law speeds removal process. South Carolina property owners now have a faster legal path to remove people unlawfully occupying their homes under a new law supporters say will help end squatting, while housing advocates say they will be watching closely to ensure tenant protections remain intact.
- New S.C. law aims to make medical bills easier to understand
- S.C. law brings new transparency to menus
- New S.C. law mandates U.S. steel in state projects
- What S.C.’s new ‘stop as yield’ law means for cyclists
S.C.’s abortion numbers drop. Even as the state’s numbers of abortions continue to fall, state lawmakers continue to look at tighter restrictions, despite strong public opposition in recent polls.
Map of planned, operational data centers in S.C. More than 20 data centers, controversial for their energy use and environmental impacts, are planned or operational in South Carolina. Take a look at where.
What corruption costs S.C. government last year. The most expensive year for executive branch fraud occurred last year, when losses hit $1.7 million. Bribery schemes, spread across seven agencies, led to $475,312 in losses, according to the annual report.
Federal court revives NAACP lawsuit challenging S.C. education law. A group of students, educators and an author can challenge a state law banning certain race-based lessons, a federal appeals court said Tuesday, reversing a lower court’s decision.
Decision on potential sale of nuclear reactors could be two years away. South Carolina’s state-owned utility company announced a key deadline for the potential $2.7 billion sale of a pair of partially built nuclear reactors in the Palmetto State.
S.C. sees 2nd straight drop in annual overdose deaths. Opioid deaths dropped across the Palmetto State for the second straight year, but the opioid crisis remains a significant concern for state officials.
U.S. DOT awards $23.5M to replace a dozen bridges in Grand Strand. Eighteen bridges across South Carolina, including a dozen in the Grand Strand and Pee Dee, are slated for replacement after a $23.5 million package approved by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Dates set for annual tax free weekend. The state’s annual Tax Free Weekend is set to return from Aug. 7 through Aug. 9. During the three-day sales tax holiday, state and local sales taxes are waived on eligible school-year essentials.
Clemson trustees pick Ayers as new president. The University of Georgia’s Benjamin Ayers will become Clemson’s new president on Aug. 1 after an earlier choice decided not to head to the university.
It’s an invasion
Award-winning cartoonist Robert Ariail has a special knack for poking a little fun in just the right way. In this week’s panel, he takes a swipe at farm-raised shrimp, among other things.
- Love this week’s cartoon or hate it? Did he go too far, or not far enough? Send your thoughts to feedback@statehousereport.com.
Brack: The heat is on in South Carolina, nation
Commentary by Andy Brack | With heat indices at more than 110 degrees Fahrenheit along most of the South Carolina coast this weekend, it’s a good thing that we don’t face global warming.
That was sarcasm, if you didn’t figure it out.
Seriously, even climate change deniers have to admit that something kooky is going on with the weather – from more than five dozen flooding days last year in Charleston alone to droughts and more intense hurricanes. Remember Hurricane Helene? People in the North Carolina mountains do. They continue to face flooding impacts from the 100-year storm two years later.
South Carolina’s high temperatures typically combine with lots of humidity to create cloying, damp air that is sometimes difficult to breathe. And as we all know, if you stay out in it too long, you’ll sweat like the devil. (If you stop sweating, you’re in a danger zone and might need medical help.)
In the southern California desert, however, there’s no real humidity to make it feel worse than it is. Why? Because it actually feels as bad as it is. On Thursday, for example, it was 100 degrees in Palm Springs at 10 a.m. One hundred degrees! A hotel manager noted it was supposed to rise to 117 degrees later in the day.
But instead of being a smothering wet blanket, this kind of desert heat presses against your cheeks. It burns. It dries your nostrils. It makes you fully appreciative of air-conditioning.
While in South Carolina we are accustomed to being outside in the high 90s with triple-digit heat indices, there’s little to prepare you for the blazing heat and too-bright sun in the desert. It is, quite frankly, miserable. And to everyone who says it’s a “different kind of heat” that’s not as bad because of the low humidity, spend a little time here. The heat is horrible. It’s inconceivable why people even live here in July.
While high temperatures are capturing headlines across the state and nation, here are some other headlines that should grab your attention:
Opioid deaths down in S.C. For the second consecutive year, opioid and drug overdose deaths in the Palmetto State dropped by a third from 2023 to 2024. Fentanyl, however, continues to be the leading cause of fatal overdoses with 914 of the 1,481 overdose deaths in 2024. Big reasons for the drop in overdose deaths are better education and broader availability of life-saving medications like Narcan and widespread distribution of fentanyl test strips.
Blood donations needed. Officials with the American Red Cross say it’s a vital time for blood donations across the state and nation. Why? Because in the hot months of summer, donations decline. Needed now in South Carolina: Group O blood donations. Check with your local chapter to help by giving a pint.
Data centers. South Carolina currently has 20 planned or operational data centers spread across the state, as shown in a new map published by The State newspaper. Nine are operational, two are operational and expanding, and nine more are planned. But advocates in a few counties are fighting them for how they suck away fresh water. Look for this issue to raise more of a political profile in the months to come.
Tax-free weekend. August will bring an annual gimmick – the state’s tax-free weekend in which consumers of school-related items (plus lots of other stuff where it’s hard to see a school connection) can save money. It’s a continuing gimmick because most people don’t use it, which creates inequities. But legislators keep approving it so they can have something to brag about. When: Aug. 7 to Aug. 9.
Bridge replacements. South Carolina has received $23.5 million in federal funding to help pay for 18 replacement bridges in nine counties, announced the state, which will chip in $93 million on the projects. That’s great. But remember, there still are about 2,800 bridges – yes, 2,800 – that need significant work. State lawmakers need to get more serious about fixing them.
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of the Charleston City Paper and Statehouse Report. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@charlestoncitypaper.com
Orange object
This should be just plain easy. What is it and where is it? Bonus points: Tell us something cool about it. Send in your best guess – and your name and hometown – to feedback@statehousereport.com. And if you have a mystery photo to share, send that along too (but tell us what it is because we’re horrible guessers.)
Last week’s mystery, “Monument,” was particularly relevant for an issue remembering the nation’s 250th birthday. It showed a monument to the Battle of Kings Mountain at Kings Mountain National Military Park in Blacksburg, site of a major colonial win in the Revolutionary War.
Sleuth Tom Elmore of Columbia notes “The battle is significant because over 900 ‘over the mountains’ men from Tennessee and North Carolina defeated a Loyalist force of over 1,000 men led by Maj. Patrick Ferguson, the only regular army soldier in the battle. The Patriot forces surrounded the Loyalists who were atop the mountain and routed them. Ferguson lost close to a thousand men killed, wounded or captured, including Ferguson himself who is buried near the monument to only about 90 casualties for the Patriots.”
Hats off to others who identified the image: Jay Altman of Columbia; Allan Peel of San Antonio, Texas; Steve Willis of Lancaster; Philip Cromer of Beaufort; Bill Segars of Hartsville; George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; Frank Bouknight of Summerville; and Nelson Little of Mount Pleasant.
- SHARE: If you have a Mystery Photo to share, please send it to us – and make sure you tell us what it is!
Send us your thoughts
Please send us your thoughts about politics and policy in South Carolina, but make sure to leave phone numbers and hometowns to help us verify them for publication. We publish non-defamatory comments, but unless you provide your contact information – name and hometown, plus a phone number used only by us for verification – we can’t publish your views.
- Have a comment? Send your letters or comments to: feedback@statehousereport.com. Make sure to provide your contact details (name, hometown and phone number for verification. Letters are limited to 150 words.
Statehouse Report, founded in 2001 as a weekly legislative forecast that informs readers about what is going to happen in South Carolina politics and policy, is provided by email to you at no charge every Friday.
- Editor and publisher: Andy Brack, 843.670.3996
- Statehouse bureau chief: Jack O’Toole
We can use your help
We’re proud to offer Statehouse Report for free. For more than a dozen years, we’ve been the go-to place for insightful independent policy and political news and views in the Palmetto State. And we love it as much as you do.
But now, we can use your help. If you’ve been thinking of contributing to Statehouse Report over the years, now would be a great time to contribute as we deal with the crisis. In advance, thank you.
More
- Mailing address: Send inquiries by mail to: P.O. Box 21942, Charleston, SC 29413
- Subscriptions are free. If you want to subscribe, send us an email: feedback@statehousereport.com with the word “subscribe” in the subject. We hope you’ll keep receiving the great news and information from Statehouse Report, but if you need to unsubscribe, go to the bottom of the weekly email issue and follow the instructions.
- Read our sister publication: Charleston City Paper (every Friday in print; Every day online)
- © 2026, Statehouse Report, a publication of City Paper Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved.
Help keep the City Paper free.
No paywalls.
No subscription cost.
Free delivery at 800 locations.
Help support independent journalism by donating today.
