Endorsements start with 5 Republicans, including 2 without primary opposition
By Abraham Kenmore
SCDailyGazette.com
COLUMBIA — A billionaire-funded conservative network is bringing its influence and army of volunteers to South Carolina’s Statehouse races for the first time.
The state branch of Americans for Prosperity, the political advocacy group founded in 2004 by libertarian billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, is starting its General Assembly endorsements with five Republicans. They include four legislators with perfect scores on the group’s latest legislative report card and a first-time candidate running for an open seat in the Upstate, according to the group’s announcement, given first to the S.C. Daily Gazette.
More endorsements may come closer to the June primary.
Of the initial five, only three face GOP opposition: Sen. Katrina Shealy, whose opposition to an abortion ban made her a target; Rep. Jason Elliott, who’s seeking an open Senate seat; and Sarah Curran, who’s vying to replace House Freedom Caucus Chairman Adam Morgan, who’s running for Congress.
Also getting endorsements are House Speaker Murrell Smith, R-Sumter, who has no opposition at all this year; and Sen. Wes Climer, R-Rock Hill, who has only a third-party challenger in November.
Their re-election is obviously not in question, but the group wanted to publicly applaud the pair as champions of its positions. Climer actually received a better-than-perfect score of 113 last year — the report card’s highest grade — as the lead sponsor of two bills it scored.
For its 2023 report card, the 14 items scored included repealing the regulatory Certificate of Need permission process hospitals need to build or expand — legislation Climer sponsored that became law last year — and allowing “open enrollment” public school choice, medical marijuana, and home delivery and curbside pickup of alcohol. The latter three have yet to pass.
While its 2024 grades await the session’s end, the group praised Smith, in his second full year as speaker, for pushing through the House “universal” expansion of the state’s fledgling scholarship program for private school choice. That bill is highly unlikely to get a vote in the Senate this year.
“South Carolina has strong representation in the Statehouse who we are thrilled to support in their reelection endeavors,” AFP state director Candace Carroll said in a statement. “We are also hopeful to bring new policy champions into the fold who will align with our vision for the state and move critical legislation.”
The group’s endorsements bring volunteers, digital ads and direct mailers to support its picks. The network touts having 84,000 activists statewide available to make phone calls and knock on doors.
A spokesperson declined to say how much money the organization plans to put into Statehouse races or how many total candidates it intends to support.
By endorsing candidates in the primaries, AFP hopes to help elect more legislators who align with its policy goals, which include deregulation of some occupational licensing requirements, the expungement of more misdemeanor crimes to help people who have completed their sentence find work, and more taxpayer-supported choices in K-12 private and public schools.
The endorsements were based on a combination of its annual report card for legislators and, for challengers and those newly seeking office, their responses on a questionnaire, interviews, and their public statements, according to the group.
The candidates endorsed so far:
Sen. Katrina Shealy, R-Lexington
The chairwoman of the Senate Family and Veterans’ Services Committee faces two opponents in the Republican primary.
The challenge was expected, after Shealy joined a bi-partisan group of women who call themselves “sister senators” who helped defeat a near-total abortion ban and consistently opposed the six-week ban that ultimately passed last year. Abortion is not an issue Americans for Prosperity has gotten involved in or scored.
Neither of Shealy’s opponents — Carlisle Kennedy and Zoe Warren, both of Lexington — have held elected office previously. Both criticize her as being too liberal in one of South Carolina’s most conservative counties, pointing to the abortion votes as an example.
She’s no stranger to a tough campaign. The former chairwoman of the Lexington County Republican Party managed to first win her seat in 2012 despite being among hundreds of candidates statewide tossed off primary ballots over a filing technicality. She was the lone petition candidate that year to oust a legislator.
Shealy said the endorsement will help her in the primary, and that she has a longstanding relationship with AFP.
“I’ve worked with them on several things,” she said. “I’m just so excited about working with them.”
Bills that Shealy’s worked with AFP on include a 2022 law she sponsored to expand telehealth services.
The group noted that Warren, one of her challengers, testified at a House hearing earlier this year against expanding the state’s voucher program. His concerns were over how it could affect homeschool parents.
Rep. Jason Elliott, R-Greenville
Elliott, first elected to the House in 2016, is making a bid for a Senate seat opened by the retirement of GOP Sen. Dwight Loftis.
Elliott faces two GOP opponents for the Greenville County seat: Dan Nickles, Loftis’ dentist, who’s received his endorsement; and Ben Carper, a real estate broker.
But Elliott has worked closely with AFP, including introducing bills for them, the spokesperson said, and has good relations in both chambers.
Sarah Curran
Curran is the only non-legislator in the first round. She faces Stephen Frank, an insurance provider, in the GOP primary to replace Morgan, R-Taylors, who is challenging U.S. Rep. William Timmons for the 4th Congressional District.
While this is Curran’s first run for political office, she’s helped get other Republicans elected, including school board and county races and in states as far away as Alaska.
She worked on other political campaigns and with conservative groups including Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform and Generation Opportunity, which partnered with Americans for Prosperity.
Currently, Curran runs a tech startup with her husband focused on fundraising for political and nonprofit organizations.
She is running on a platform of tax and budget reform and thinks the endorsement can help her win. The primary winner will face a Democrat in November for the ruby red seat.
Americans for Prosperity has “a really great reputation in the Upstate for just being a conservative powerhouse and backing conservatives that are workhorses and are going to do what they say they are going to do,” she said. “It means a lot to me that they’re putting their faith in me.”
AFP Action
The sister organization of AFP, AFP Action, backed former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in her quest to topple former President Donald Trump for the 2024 GOP presidential nominee.
It was the first time the political action committee backed by billionaire megadonors had endorsed a presidential candidate. It ultimately didn’t help. Following Haley’s loss in South Carolina, the group announced it would no longer spend money to promote her.
Any endorsements in South Carolina’s federal congressional races will come from AFP Action.
S.C. Daily Gazette Editor Seanna Adcox contributed to this report.
Abraham Kenmore is a reporter covering elections, health care and more. He joins the S.C. Daily Gazette from The Augusta Chronicle, where he reported on Georgia legislators, military and housing issues.
S.C. Daily Gazette is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
