|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
by MARK POWELL
***
In a stunning rebuke to South Carolina Democratic movers and shakers, the party’s primary voters rejected the establishment’s preferred candidate and instead chose state representative Jermaine Johnson as their nominee for governor.
With all precincts reporting, Johnson received 221,751 votes – or 59.7% of all ballots cast.
It was a major reversal of fortune for the former star basketball player who, just ninety days ago, was under intense pressure to drop out of the race and clear the way for another candidate.
Johnson’s victory – which he achieved on the first ballot – was the latest twist in a campaign that had drama aplenty for Democrats at every step of this cycle. It started early, too.
Wealthy Lowcountry trial lawyer Mullins McLeod was initially poised to be a formidable candidate. That is until a late-night romp through Charleston’s Battery in his skivvies derailed his candidacy before it even began. McLeod was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge on May 2, 2025. Shocking as that was, though, it paled in comparison to what followed.
In their written report, Charleston Police noted McLeod was “screaming” while “wearing only his underwear and shoes.” Then he “began yelling louder and locking out his arms,” garnishing that by saying his name was “God” and “Superman.” But the worst was still to come.
(Click to view)
***
When the video of his arrest incident was released, it was a tabloid magazine’s dream come true. McLeod was seen chatting with dead lawyers, verbally abusing law enforcement, dropping the N-word (not the smartest thing to say when you’re running in a party whose bedrock is black voters), and even threatening his Republican rivals in the governor’s race with physical violence.
McLeod soldiered on nonetheless, officially throwing his hat into the ring on August 11, 2025.
As if he didn’t already have more baggage than the freight department at Atlanta’s Jackson-Hartsfield International Airport, McLeod described himself as a folk hero sticking up for the little guy. The prominent trial lawyer positioned himself as a White Knight fighting against the “money, greed and corruption that has poisoned state government.” Yet at the same time, he was among the very powerful trial lawyers faction that he assailed.
In politics, an old rule of thumb is, “If you’re explaining, you’re losing.” Mullins McLeod spent ten months explaining. And on Tuesday, he lost. Badly.
McLeod received an anemic 39,710 votes – or 10.7% of all ballots cast.
Then there was Johnson. Regardless of one’s political views, his is a heartwarming story of rising above poverty and homelessness to find a new home—and start a new life—in South Carolina. A College of Charleston basketball star, he went on to play professional ball in Europe and North America.
A scrapper on the hardwood, he proved himself equally tough at the ballot box by overcoming long odds to beat multiple Democrat incumbents in back-to-back elections for a state House seat. He benefited in those contests from the enthusiastic support of several core Democrat constituencies, not the least of which was organized labor.
Yet when the young state representative jumped into this year’s race for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, he took on his biggest fight of all.
***
That’s because powerful forces wanted him to drop out, thus clearing the field for the coronation of their anointed candidate. And Johnson said they almost succeeded, too.
In a video posted on X/Twitter in March, Johnson admitted, “By now I’m sure all of y’all have probably heard these rumors that I was considering getting out of the race. And to be honest, I was. I had a statement prepared this morning to release to the media.”
“But y’all have spoken,” he went on. “The people of South Carolina have overwhelmingly spoken up. And I went ahead and tore that statement up.”
“I’m in this for the long haul,” he concluded. And he was, too. However, the Democratic establishment had tried very hard to arrange for another candidate to have home-court advantage.
Which brings us to William M. “Billy” Webster IV, the Democrat who had the right résumé and connections to suit the party’s power players. An insider’s insider, Webster’s ticket had been punched long ago by all the people, providing him with all the right jobs.
The wealthy businessman from Greenville had served in Bill Clinton’s administration, first in the presidential transition team’s personnel office and later as director of scheduling. Before that, he’d been governor Richard W. Riley’s chief of staff here in South Carolina.
He was later a co-founder of Advance America, a payday lending company which was purchased in 2012 for $780 million by Grupo Elektra, a company owned by a Mexican billionaire. That business was often accused of violating consumer protection laws and ultimately agreed in May 2012 to pay $18.75 million to more than 140,000 North Carolina consumers in the wake of a class action lawsuit.
Not exactly the kind of thing that lends itself to blue-collar working-class folks.
***
***
“Advance America and other payday lenders are operating illegally in North Carolina,” a 2004 release from the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) noted.
Webster is also well-known in the Palmetto State for his philanthropy as well as being a generous donor to Democratic campaigns and causes.
But in the end, Webster was overcome by a force nobody saw coming.
In response to outgoing governor Henry McMaster’s belated conversion to congressional redistricting, his tainted and suspiciously timed calling of a special legislative session to address it last month led to an even bigger pooch screw. State Senate GOP Leaders made a bad situation even worse by their badly bungled handling of the matter. Democrats skillfully used delaying tactics to stall a vote on the proposal until early voting was underway.
And in one of the most dramatic GOTV (Get Out The Vote) drives in South Carolina history, the flooded early voting centers in historic numbers, driven by desire to safeguard Congressman Jim Clyburn’s racially gerrymandered sixth congressional district.
According to data published by the S.C. Election Commission (SCVotes), a whopping 188,006 of South Carolina’s 319,580 early primary voters – or 58.8% of the early-voting electorate – voted early in the Democrat primary.
Based on the numbers added in Tuesday’s in-person voting, it’s now obvious the majority of them voted for Johnson.
So, Johnson has once again pulled off another hard-won victory. But his biggest election challenge of all is yet to come. He will face the winner of the June 23, 2026 Republican runoff in the general election on November 3, 2026.
A generation has passed since a Democrat was elected governor of South Carolina. The last time it happened was 1998, when Jim Hodges defeated Republican incumbent David Beasley.
***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
J. Mark Powell is an award-winning former TV journalist, government communications veteran, and a political consultant. He is also an author and an avid Civil War enthusiast. Got a tip or a story idea for Mark? Email him at mark@fitsnews.com.
***
SOUND OFF…
Got something you’d like to say in response to one of our articles? Or an issue you’d like to address proactively? We have an open microphone policy! Submit your letter to the editor (or guest column) via email HERE. Got a tip for a story? CLICK HERE. Got a technical question or a glitch to report? CLICK HERE.
