A Lyon County native is one step closer to becoming the first Democrat elected South Carolina governor in 23 years.
Joe Cunningham beat four other challengers in Tuesday’s primary election. He received about 56% of the vote, including wins in the state’s largest cities of Charleston and Columbia. His next closest challenger received 31%.
Cunningham’s campaign promises have included legalizing recreational marijuana use and sports gambling.
He was narrowly elected to South Carolina’s First U.S. Congressional District in 2018, becoming the first Democrat in nearly 40 years to win what had been a predominately red district. Cunningham lost his bid for
re-election last November by less than 6,000 votes.
Cunningham faces an uphill battle in November to unseat Henry McMaster, a 75-year-old Republican who was appointed to finish Nikki Haley’s term in 2017. Haley was nominated by then-President Trump to become ambassador to the United Nations McMaster easily won his primary in what is a right-leaning state.
Cunningham is a 2000 graduate of Lyon County High School and received his degree in ocean engineering from Florida Atlantic University. He is the son of former Kentucky State Supreme Court Justice Bill Cunningham and his wife Paula.
