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by WILL FOLKS
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South Carolina Republican leaders love to talk about party purity – specifically GOP voters’ sacred right to choose from approved GOP candidates in their partisan primary elections every even-numbered year.
Without Democrat interference… or Democrat meddling.
As such, Republican officials led by establishment fixture Drew McKissick have been pushing hard for closed primaries – and restrictions on candidate eligibility in these biennial springtime elections. Late last month, the S.C. Republican Party (SCGOP) adopted a new rule which held that candidates seeking the party’s nod for any office must have cast ballots in two of the past three GOP primary elections.
Actually, the rule (11-A-6), is way more specific than that… and it is this specificity (and subsequent selective enforcement) that has prompted a wave of recrimination against McKissick and the SCGOP.
Per the text of the rule (.pdf), access to the GOP ballot is expressly limited to registered Republican electors who “voted in at least two of the last three statewide Republican primaries.”
Note the rule’s emphasis on “primaries…”
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There is no mention of runoff elections, or “runoffs” – a separate round of balloting held two weeks after partisan primary elections in South Carolina in the event the initial vote fails to yield a candidate with the support of a majority of voters.
Interim U.S. senator Darline Graham Nordone – who is being pushed by U.S. president Donald Trump and America’s military-industrial complex to fill the seat vacated by the death of her late brother, Lindsey Graham – technically does not qualify for the ballot under a plain text reading of this new rule, which became effective on July 1.
As we previously reported, Nordone voted in the 2026 GOP primary election – but did not vote in either the 2022 or 2024 GOP primary elections. She did, however, cast a ballot in the 2024 GOP runoff in Lexington County – which her supporters have argued qualifies her under the rule.
Does it, though?
FITSNews has previously editorialized that Nordone’s 2024 runoff vote “qualifies as participation in that year’s primary process – thus making her eligible to run for office under the new rule.” However, we noted the “strict language” interpretation of the rule – buttressed by the GOP’s clearly articulated preference for limiting candidate participation – could make for a “credible case to keep her off the ballot.”
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At the very least, Nordone should have been required to formally request – and receive – a waiver from the SCGOP executive committee prior to the candidate certification deadline for this office.
Which she failed to do…
Why does this matter? Because SCGOP leaders booted three candidates off the ballot for failing to adhere to party rules… but certified Nordone without a waiver. One of the three candidates unceremoniously kicked off the ballot, Danny Lee Ford, campaigned just a month ago for GOP commissioner of agriculture – advancing to a runoff election against the eventual Republican nominee, Cody Simpson.
Ford voted in both the primary and runoff elections this year – which would qualify him for the August 11, 2026 special election ballot for U.S. Senate if the party applied the same standard it applied to Nordone. In fact, it would qualify both candidates.
That’s not what happened, though. While Nordone’s eligibility was approved, Ford was kicked off the ballot.
In an email to Ford, son of legendary Clemson University head football coach Danny Ford, GOP leaders informed him they had “reviewed your vote history and reached a decision that you do not meet the qualifications” to appear on the ballot, adding “no motion was made on your behalf to grant a waiver.”
“As a result, the South Carolina Republican Party will not certify you as a candidate on our primary ballot for the office of U.S. Senate,” the email added.
No such strict scrutiny was applied to Nordone, however.
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?#SCSuccession@DarlineGrahamSC (Nordine) has been duly certified by the @SCGOP executive committee as a candidate on the August 11, 2026 ballot despite the fact she did NOT vote in two of the last three "statewide Republican primaries," per a new party rule.
— FITSNews (@fitsnews) July 28, 2026
Nordine failed to… pic.twitter.com/6HA4LtYj8L
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Party leaders defended their interpretation of the rule, insisting primary and runoff elections constituted different parts of the same election cycle – and claiming Nordone participated in two “cycles” whereas Ford did not.
“A runoff is considered a second round of the primary,” a member of the SCGOP rules committee told FITSNews. “That’s why people who vote in the first round of a Democratic primary cannot vote in a GOP runoff that is part of that cycle. I didn’t think it needed clarification since the law is pretty clear on that. Apparently it does though.”
Republicans have long argued they have the right to make their own rules regarding candidate and ballot eligibility – and enforce those rules as they see fit.
The problem with that theory? State and local taxpayers shell out millions of dollars to host these elections, manage the filing process, provide access to the polls, collect the votes, protect the integrity of the ballot, tabulate and disseminate results, certify the outcomes of elections and resolve any disputes related to those outcomes.
Managing the electoral process is a core function of government… and if access to the ballot is being unevenly applied, that threatens the foundational integrity of our representative democracy.
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THE RULE…
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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SOUND OFF…
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