Jermaine Johnson is pitching himself as a "different kind of Democrat" as he tries to do what no Democratic candidate for governor has done since Jim Hodges in 1998: win.
To get there, the 40-year-old Richland County lawmaker who unseated a 22-year S.C. House legislator in 2020 to win his Statehouse seat told SC Public Radio it's going to mean aggressively meeting voters where they are and talking about issues that affect their everyday lives.
He said it will mean focusing on issues that the state can actually fix.
And Johnson said it will include speaking to both Democrats and Republican voters.
"Most people who know me, they know I'm unafraid of meeting and talking and having conversations with my colleagues who are on the other side of the aisle. They know I don't shy away from standing against the Democrats. They know I don't shy away from standing against the Republicans," Johnson said. "... So when I say I'm a different kind of Democrat, I'm just an independent thinker. I will not be bogged down by anybody's platform or anybody's ideology. I'm going to do what's right for the people of South Carolina every single day."
Johnson formally announced his bid Tuesday after months of teasing a bid.
He said Tuesday that the "people of South Carolina changed my mind."
"I was always wanting to be just a servant of the people of South Carolina. But in traveling around the state and talking to people in every single event, in every single place that I went to, people were always asking, 'Jermaine, what do we need to do to move you from exploratory committee to official candidate?'" Johnson said. "And I heard this in every county that I had went to. They were talking about the issues that have been affecting them in each of their communities. And they said that none of the candidates that were officially announced were talking about those specific issues, those kitchen-table issues that are affecting all of us every single day. So for that specific reason alone, the people of South Carolina really needed a voice."
Every step of my journey—from homelessness to the State House—has been guided by fearless faith. Faith that rises to meet every challenge with purpose. Today, I’m announcing my campaign for Governor of South Carolina. Our best days are ahead. #JohnsonForSC #ANewSC #SCGov pic.twitter.com/cLctXcPbID
— Jermaine Johnson 🇺🇸 (@Dr_JLJohnson) October 28, 2025
Johnson's campaign announcement said he will focus on strengthening schools, fixing infrastructure, expanding health care access and creating good-paying jobs.
Johnson emphasized infrastructure will be a key focus of his campaign.
So too will be expanded access to mental health care, he said.
"I want to talk about the issues that are affecting us every single day in this state, in our homes, in our communities, in our rural communities," he told SC Public Radio.
To win the governor's race, Johnson must first win the Democratic primary in June.
Johnson is the second Democrat to enter the race behind Mullins McLeod.
The Charleston attorney launched his bid back in August and has since said he raised about $1.4 million so far for his campaign, most of which he says are personal contributions.
Christale Spain, the South Carolina Democratic Party chair, has called on McLeod to drop his bid after a police dashcam video of McLeod was publicly released from his arrest in May for disorderly conduct.
Despite calls to exit, McLeod said he plans to stay in the race.
“I share with the voters that no matter how much they try to silence me, no matter how much they try to get me out of this race, that I would not stand down,” he said in an August video.
Johnson declined to weigh in on McLeod and calls for him to leave the race.
"I'm running for the people of South Carolina, and they need a champion," Johnson said. "They need a leader, they need a fighter, and I'm ready to be that person for them."
Johnson is in his third term in the S.C. House.
He was first elected in 2020, when he unseated then-Democratic state Rep. Jimmy Bales. Johnson narrowly won back the seat representing parts of Kershaw and Richland counties in 2022 after his district was merged with his former House colleague, state Rep. Wendy Brawley. Johnson did not have a primary or general election challenger in 2024.
Inside the Statehouse Tuesday, Johnson told roughly 100 of his supporters that he remembers when, during his 2020 race, some thought he was "too young, too inexperienced, too Black" to run against a sitting Democratic incumbent.
Johnson said he recalled people telling him to be respectful, wait his turn and drop out.
"He (God) had a purpose for me," Johnson said, adding that he became the youngest and first Black representative of that district.
A Los Angeles native and College of Charleston graduate, Johnson is a married father of four children who runs Dream Team Consulting and is an owner of Goosehead Insurance Hurd-Johnson agency, according to his LinkedIn.
He's also employed as an adjunct professor at Midlands Technical College in Columbia.
Johnson's life, some of which he detailed in his campaign launch announcement video Tuesday, was featured in a documentary that premiered last November called "I Got Myself a Yard."
Johnson said at the time that he hoped the film sparked a broader conversation about mental health.
This will be the first wide open governor's race in more than a decade.
On the Republican side of the governor's race, there are five candidates:
- Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette
- State Sen. Josh Kimbrell, R-Spartanburg
- 1st District Congresswoman Nancy Mace
- 5th District Congressman Ralph Norman
- Attorney General Alan Wilson
Winning statewide has not come easy for South Carolina Democrats.
Democrats have not won the governor's office in the red state since 1998, when Hodges beat Republican David Beasley. And Democrats have not won statewide since Jim Rex won the superintendent's race by fewer than 500 votes.
The party came close in 2010, when then-state Sen. Vincent Sheheen lost by 4.5 percentage points to then-Rep. Nikki Haley. Sheheen ran against Haley again in 2014. He lost by more than 14 percentage points.
In 2018, when Gov. Henry McMaster ran for his first full term, the now longest-serving governor beat former Rep. James Smith by a little more than 8 percentage points.
Four years later, McMaster beat former Congressman Joe Cunningham by more than 17 percentage points.
Johnson told supporters Tuesday he is ready for the challenge.
"Tomorrow can be a brighter day because we the people of South Carolina, we have never been afraid of hard work, we have never backed down from a challenge," Johnson said.
Filing for the governor's race opens in mid-March.
The primary election is June 9.
