2026 Midterms State GuideSouth Carolina
Hold on to your palmetto trees and blue crabs.
- PrimaryStatewideJun. 9This date has passed.
- RunoffStatewideJun. 23This date has passed.
- Election DayGeneralNov. 3
Updated
Hi! It’s me, Shadrach. Apparently, I’m your civic guide today. If you’ve been complaining about how things are going (and I’ve heard you, the walls are thin), this guide will help you feel informed and able to vote in this year’s midterms. Now, hold on to your palmetto trees and blue crabs, and let’s get into it.
South Carolina at a glance
South Carolina votes on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, for governor, U.S. Senate and all 7 U.S. House seats.
- Election Day
- Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026
- Voter registration
- Oct. 2: Voter registration deadline (in person)
- Early voting
- Oct. 19 to Oct. 31: Early voting
- Governor
- 4 candidates
- U.S. Senate
- 10 candidates
- U.S. House
- 7 seats
- Statewide ballot measures
- None
Your to-do list
0 of 3 doneImportant dates
- Jun. 9Primary This date has passed.
- Jun. 23Primary runoff This date has passed.
- Aug. 11US Senate Special Republican Primary This date has passed.
- Aug. 25US Senate Special Republican Primary Runoff This date has passed.
- Oct. 2Voter registration deadline (in person)
- Oct. 4Voter registration deadline (online/fax/email)
- Oct. 5Voter registration deadline (by mail, postmarked)
- Oct. 23Absentee ballot application deadline
- Oct. 19 to Oct. 31Early voting
- Nov. 3Absentee ballot return deadline
- Nov. 3Election Day
What’s at stake
The Palmetto State had a bumpy ride to the general election. Senator Lindsey Graham (R) died suddenly on July 11 after winning his primary. His sister, Senator Darline Graham (R), was appointed to finish out the rest of his term and is running to serve again. She faced several challengers in the special primary election, which went to a runoff, where she secured the Republican nomination. Whoever wins will inherit a state in the crunch. A majority of residents rate the economy as bad, according to a 2026 poll. 67% found grocery costs difficult or very difficult to afford, 59% found health care costs and housing costs such as rent and mortgages difficult to pay for, and 61% said going out to dinner is unaffordable.
Who’s on your ballot
Tap a race to see the candidates.
South Carolina is choosing a governor
See whose priorities line up with yours
Here are the top priorities each candidate lists, in their own words. Pick the 3 that matter most to you. Names stay hidden until you see your results.
0 of 3 picked
- Top priorities
Jermaine JohnsonDemocrat- Increase affordability by slashing income tax, lowering property tax, building affordable housing, and improving conditions for workers.
- Supporting infrastructure by rebuilding roads and bridges, increasing local production and resilience, improving law enforcement presence, constructing more rural hospitals, increasing focus on trade schools, and legalizing and regulating cannabis.
- Supporting families by fixing the education system, protecting women’s reproductive rights, providing better mental health care, investing in fathers and families, and passing hate crime bills.
- Top priorities
Alan WilsonRepublican- Securing communities by working closely with law enforcement to dismantle criminal networks and strengthening penalties for fentanyl and violent offenders.
- Fixing education and empowering parents by fully funding public schools and expanding school choice to ensure families have more control over their children’s education.
- Lowering taxes, growing the economy, and making South Carolina affordable by eliminating state income tax, slashing red tape, reducing and eliminating the burden of personal property taxes for seniors and veterans, and more.
- Top priorities
Walid HakimGreen- Investing in education by creating the “South Carolina College Investment Grants” for students pursuing critical careers, allowing them to repay the state by committing to live and work in South Carolina for 10–20 years.
- Reduce the reliance on school resource officers and redirect that funding toward safety improvements.
- Create the Carolina Insurance Company: a state-owned insurer, offering full coverage to every resident.
- Top prioritiesMichael AddisonUnited Citizens Party
- Eliminate the state income tax, close corporate sales tax exemption loopholes, and raise state sales taxes by 3%.
- Raise the minimum wage to $15/hour.
- Expand access to healthcare through telehealth.
- Build environmentally responsible data centers in rural federal lands and explore small household data centers that SC residents are paid to house
- Create AI safeguards with a task force.
- Get to know ’em
Annie AndrewsDemocrat - Get to know ’em
Kasie WhitenerLibertarian - Mark HackettConstitution Party
- Jack EllisonIndependent
- Cindy GlaserIndependent
- Paul SedletskyIndependent
- Edward StrungeIndependent
- Reece Wright-McDonaldIndependent
- Catherine Fleming BruceDemocrat
Write-in
All U.S. House of Representatives seats are up for election every two years. Find your district here.
- Shadrach’s big picture
South Carolinians will elect seven representatives to send to Congress. Republicans currently hold six of those seats, and Democrats hold one.
- Open seats
Two. Reps. Nancy Mace (R-1) and Ralph Norman (R-5) ran for governor but lost in the Republican primary.
- Competitive districts
None of South Carolina’s districts are competitive. SC-6 is considered solidly Democratic, SC-1 is considered likely Republican, and the rest are considered solidly Republican.
Also on the ballot
Other races South Carolina voters will decide.
- Lieutenant Governor
- Attorney General
- Secretary of State
- Agriculture Commissioner
- Comptroller
- Superintendent of Education
- Treasurer
- State House
- Special state legislative
- School boards
- Municipal government
Whose job is it?
Ten things government does. Tap the office that does each one.
Whose job is it to…
1 of 10
Declare a state of emergency after a hurricane or flood?
Pass it on
Know someone voting in South Carolina?
Send them the guide. It takes one tap, and it saves them an evening of arguing in a group chat.
From the newsroom
How TPO has covered South Carolina this cycle. Tap one to read it here.
- May 11Redistricting
- July 13Lindsey Graham passes
- Read the full day’s news
Lindsey Graham’s sister will finish the South Carolina Republican’s Senate term following his unexpected death Saturday. Monday, Governor McMaster (R) tapped Darline Graham Nordone, who was sworn in yesterday (read about her). Also from the Upper Chamber: Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) broke his weekslong silence Sunday, saying he was hospitalized due to a fall and can’t “return… quite yet.”
Moana’s box office didn’t go far at all. Disney’s $250M live-action remake opened to $43M domestically ($95M globally), one of the House-of-Mouse’s weakest remake debuts. While Mickey Inc. usually lets nostalgia build before a remake, this one came 20 months after Moana 2 and a decade after the original. Still, it floated fans’ boats, earning a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Be-leaf it or not, Michigan health officials have tagged lettuce and salad greens as a “potential source” of the explosive diarrhea outbreak. The cyclosporiasis infection has potentially sickened ~7,000 and hospitalized 141 across 34 states, though no specific grower or supplier has been identified. To romaine healthy, officials urge buying whole heads, discarding outer leaves, and washing inner ones thoroughly.
Wanna learn more about Cyclospora? Check out TPO Explains this Saturday, where we do a shallow dive into one topic from the headlines.
June was a scorcher, but inflation cooled more than expected. Prices dropped 0.4% from May to June, the largest monthly drop since 2020, driven by cheaper gas, clothes, and cars. Annual inflation now stands at 3.5%, but with gas doing that thing again 📈, analysts warn July might not be so chilly.
It’s lights, camera, and (legal) action for the Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery merger. On Monday, California led 12 states in suing to block the $111B deal on antitrust grounds, weeks after DOJ approval. Paramount called the suit “fundamentally flawed” and vowed to fight, hoping to close before September 30, when they’d start owing WB shareholders a $650M/quarter deal’s-not-closed-yet fee. - August 12Primary elections
- August 14Primary results
- August 31GOP Runoff
A prayer for South Carolina
God who removes and sets up kings, You are our confidence in election season, and Your sovereignty is our peace in a tottering world.
While we wait for Your soon-coming kingdom, appoint for the Palmetto State leaders who will seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly. Stabilize South Carolinians amid uncertainty; raise up qualified, upright candidates; protect them and the voting process from violence and fraud. May voters receive accurate, helpful information, and may their government earn their trust and work for their good.
King of Every Nation, though these candidates seek positions of power, their strength pales against Yours. Though officials seek to make things better, You are making all things new. South Carolina’s leaders may fumble and fight and fade, but You, my King, are immovable, unconquerable, and everlasting. So strengthen South Carolinians with forbearance to submit to imperfect leadership until all the world comes together under Your perfect rule.
Amen.