SITTING CONGRESSMAN WADES INTO “FIGHTIN’ FIFTH” SPECIAL ELECTION …
U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan waded into the crowded race for the Palmetto State’s fifth congressional district on Monday – backing the candidacy of former S.C. Republican Party chairman Chad Connelly.
In a video posted to his Facebook page, Duncan referred to Connelly as a “true mentor to me and a brother in Christ.”
“He’s the right guy to send to Congress,” Duncan said. “He’s a guy that understands constitutional liberties, and that we need to return our government back to limited government – free markets, individual liberties – the things that make conservative Republicans different.”
According to Duncan, Connelly will be a “fighter … in the guise of Mick Mulvaney.”
Mulvaney vacated this seat last month after the U.S. Senate confirmed his nomination as president Donald Trump‘s director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
So far seven GOP candidates have signaled their intention to campaign for this seat.
In addition to Connelly, they are: Indian Land attorney Kris Wampler, S.C. speaker pro tempore Tommy Pope of York, former S.C. Rep. Ralph Norman (a developer from Rock Hill), Camden businessman and S.C. State Guard leader Tom Mullikin, Midlands community advocate Penry Gustafson and social conservative activist Sheri Few of Lugoff.
No Democrats have filed for the seat as of this writing …
Filing for the “Fightin’ Fifth” closes at noon on Monday, March 13. Partisan primary elections will be held on May 2, with runoff elections held on May 16, if necessary.
(In South Carolina partisan primaries, runoff elections are held in the event no candidate receives a majority of votes in the initial balloting. There are no runoffs in the general election, however).
The special election itself will be held on June 20.
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