CHARLESTON, S.C. — If elected governor of South Carolina in 2022, Democrat Joe Cunningham said he first would expand Medicaid, the shared federal-state health insurance program — moving the state forward on a progressive agenda item conservatives in government have rejected again and again.
Then he would push to decriminalize marijuana use. He would use the bully pulpit to make public college tuition free to students who maintain a “B” letter grade average or better. And Wednesday night facing a friendly crowd at a Charleston brewery, in his first formal campaign announcement, he called for state lawmakers to face term limits, called for an end to State House corruption and said legislators should be banned from raising money during the legislative session.
It was a big wish list to start off a campaign that faces tough odds.
And if he can overcome those odds, he'll need the backing of the state Legislature — a body dominated by Republicans who expanded their power by picking up seats in 2020 — to get anything on his agenda done.
Cunningham, the most notable Democrat to date to announce plans to challenge Republican incumbent Gov. Henry McMaster, was not discouraged Wednesday night when asked how he would get any of his legislative priorities done.
“The same way I’ve been working the last two years in Congress. I was rated one of the most bipartisan and effective members in Congress. Working with Republicans and getting things done has been exactly what I’ve been doing the last two years. I wouldn’t expect it to be much of a change in pace for me,” Cunningham told reporters.
No Democrat has won a statewide race since 2006, when Jim Rex was elected state superintendent of education. And it’s been more than 20 years since a Democrat — Jim Hodges — was elected governor.
Democratic activist Gary Votour announced his gubernatorial bid earlier this year. More Democrats are expected to enter the contest. U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-Columbia, told reporters Tuesday that he is aware of at least two other Democrats who plan to make their own announcements.
Hodges only served one term, and, since then Democrats — with the exception of 2010 when former state Sen. Vincent Sheheen came within 4.5 percentage points of beating then-state Rep. Nikki Haley — have not come close to overcoming the GOP stronghold.
State Democratic Party chairman Trav Robertson, in an introduction of Cunningham, said the road for Democrats will be “winding” and “long.” But added that Cunningham has “proven you can be an independent voice” to capture support from beyond his own political party.
Looking back at a 2018 run for Congress when he overcame expectations and flipped a long-held Republican Lowcountry seat held previously by Mark Sanford, Cunningham aimed to tamp down naysayers who say a Democrat can’t win a statewide race.
“To those who say that a Democrat can’t win in South Carolina, well, we’ve heard that before,” Cunningham said, to cheers from the crowd of at least 500 people. “In 2018, thanks to many of you, I flipped a congressional district that had not voted for a Democrat in 40 years. The district that Donald Trump won by 13 (percentage) points, on election night in 2018, the experts gave us a 9% — not 90 — a 9% chance at winning. But we won then and we’re going to do it again.”
To do that, Cunningham will have to raise money — a lot of it. Cunningham’s campaign announced Wednesday he raised $400,000 in the year’s first quarter, more than $20,000 more than McMaster raised in the quarter. Still, McMaster walked away from the fundraising quarter with more than $1 million cash on hand.
Cunningham’s campaign also confirmed exclusively to The State that 90% of those dollars have been in-state contributions.
Cunningham may lean on friend and political ally Jaime Harrison, now the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, who raised $130 million for his unsuccessful Senate campaign against Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham. The two appeared together at a campaign event in 2020 in North Charleston to spur Democrats onward in a presidential year. Both lost.
In this race, Cunningham also will need to try and entice the fundraising backing from the Democratic Governor’s Association and other Democratic groups who have not been willing to bet on a South Carolina governor’s race.
In response to how he will do it, Cunningham told reporters, “this is deja vu all over again.”
“In 2018, we proved every single person wrong,” he said.
But he will also have to build a coalition with the state’s main Democratic Party voting bloc: Black voters.
In his introduction of Cunningham, the Rev. Kylon Middleton said Cunningham could “get things done” and has “unprecedented crossover support.”
“And that’s what it’s going to take for you to win statewide,” the Black Charleston County councilman said, before leading the crowd in a chant that would echo throughout the inaugural campaign event, “Joe can win!”
Luke Cunningham, one of Joe Cunningham’s four brothers, stood nearby as he watched his brother pose for selfies with supporters who wore old Cunningham congressional T-shirts and Joe Biden stickers.
“This is the happiest I’ve ever seen him,” Luke Cunningham said.
The weekend before, all of the Cunningham brothers traveled to Myrtle Beach for one last family trip.
As a family, they recognized that might be their last chance to enjoy a weekend together before candidate Cunningham launched his run for governor.
Cunningham confirmed he will be in Greenville on Monday.
”And we’ve got a crowd building up there as well. This is just the start,” he said.
Nearby, supporters waited for a chance to meet their former congressman, who they hope will be their next governor.
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