SC Democratic Primary

On this episode of the South Carolina Lede for June 6, 2026: we bring you highlights from the Republican and Democratic gubernatorial debates that Gavin Jackson moderated this week as we enter the sprint to the June 9 primary.

Attorney Mullins McLeod, state Rep. Jermaine Johnson and businessman Billy Webster answered questions ranging from immigration enforcement to data center policy at an hour-long SCETV-hosted debate.

From political newcomers to those who've run before, seven Democrats want a chance to replace Republican incumbent Nancy Mace in the 1st Congressional District this fall.

This week author and journalist Carolyn Click joins us to talk about her new book, The Cost of the Vote: George Elmore and the Battle for the Ballot (2025, USC Press). Elmore's story is that of a man who believed, with uncommon boldness, that he and other Black Americans were guaranteed the right to vote. He volunteered to become the plaintiff in the NAACP lawsuit that successfully challenged the all-white Democratic primary in South Carolina in 1946.Carolyn centers her story on Elmore, his family, his neighbors, and the activists and lawyers who filed the suit. Although Elmore's court challenge would prove successful, he and his family paid a steep personal price.

Longtime friends former President Donald Trump and South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster are on opposite sides as voters on Tuesday in the state's 3rd Congressional District choose their Republican nominee.

Early voting in the June 25 runoffs opens from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, June 19, to Friday, June 21.

With the South Carolina Democratic and Republican primaries in the rearview, the state’s election commission is boasting of a successful primary season with 889,000 total votes cast.

A historic Black community in Richland County proved why President Joe Biden might have pushed for South Carolina to vote first in the nation after it saved his campaign in 2020.

On this episode of the South Carolina Lede for February 6, 2024: host Gavin Jackson talks with AP political reporter Meg Kinnard about the SC first-in-the-nation Democratic presidential primary won by Pres. Joe Biden on Saturday; a look at the latest on the Republican trail as we follow former SC Gov. Nikki Haley around the state, and expect to see former Pres. Donald Trump to visit sometime this week; and more!Leave us a voicemail at 803-563-7169 to share your thoughts about the topics covered on the show or just whatever's on your mind!You can subscribe to South Carolina Lede in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also follow the show on Twitter @SCLedePod.

President Joe Biden on Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024, won the state's Democratic presidential primary. It was the first time Biden's name was on the ballot this cycle.