SC Democratic Party

Democrats in South Carolina may be holding the nation's first presidential primary. But the party is struggling inside the Southern state.

The special election to fill the unexpired term of the late Sen. John Scott's District 19 Richland County seat was held Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023.

Christale Spain, a longtime party operative, has been elected as chair of South Carolina's Democratic Party. She became the first Black woman to lead the organization in what will be the Democrats' leadoff presidential voting state in 2024. With her election Saturday, and thanks to the party's recent revamp of its primary schedule, four of the five states in which Democrats will vote first next year — Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and South Carolina — now have Black women chairing their state parties.

Congressman Jim Clyburn is backing a former staffer in her effort to lead South Carolina's Democrats, as the state prepares to host the party's opening presidential primary in 2024. Clyburn tells The Associated Press that Christale Spain represents the "steady leadership" the party needs. Spain has served as the party's executive director and has worked on presidential campaigns in the state and in Clyburn's district office. Spain also worked on Black voter engagement for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for the 2022 midterms.

The South Carolina Democrat vying to oust Republican U.S. Sen. Tim Scott is facing calls from within her own party to fold her campaign, following the publication of additional leaked audio in which she appears to make disparaging remarks about her constituents. The calls for state Rep. Krystle Matthews to withdraw just two months ahead of the general election came in reaction to leaked audio published by conservative activist group Project Veritas of Matthews speaking to one of its members, without her knowledge. Democrats including gubernatorial nominee Joe Cunningham called on Matthews to quit the race.

Joe Cunningham has chosen a civil litigator who flew combat missions in Iraq to be his running mate. Cunningham is trying to become South Carolina's first Democratic governor in 20 years. He previewed his pick of Tally Parham Casey ahead of a formal announcement Monday in her hometown of Greenville. Cunningham told The Associated Press that Casey's military service, legal savvy and the fact that she's a woman make her the right fit. Casey was South Carolina's first female fighter pilot, serving three combat tours over Iraq, and has been an attorney for more than two decades. Gov. Henry McMaster and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette filed for reelection last week.

Tuesday, South Carolina's primaries will end with one of only two statewide runoffs determining who will challenge Republican incumbent Senator Tim Scott for the opportunity to represent the state in the U.S. Senate.Author and preservationist Catherine Fleming Bruce narrowly emerged as the Democratic nominee frontrunner during last week’s primary, receiving 34.69 percentage of votes while challenger, current South Carolina state Representative Krystle Matthews, earned 33.24 percent.

South Carolina Democratic gubernatorial nominee Joe Cunningham is proposing an age limit — 72 — for state politicians. The cap is discussed in a video provided Wednesday to The Associated Press. It would cut off 75-year-old incumbent Republican Gov. Henry McMaster and makes a veiled argument that even fellow Democrats like President Joe Biden are staying "in office way past their prime."

Vice President Kamala Harris is returning to South Carolina this week to headline a fundraising dinner for Democrats in the state. Party officials announced Monday Harris will be the keynote speaker at the Blue Palmetto Dinner on Friday in Columbia. The dinner comes just days before South Carolina's primary elections, where the contest for governor tops the statewide Democratic ballot. South Carolina also holds the first presidential balloting in the South.