2010 South Carolina gubernatorial election

The 2010 South Carolina gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 2010. Incumbent Republican Governor Mark Sanford was term limited and unable to seek re-election. Primary elections took place on June 8, 2010 and a runoff election, as was necessary on the Republican side, was held two weeks later on June 22.

2010 South Carolina gubernatorial election
November 2, 2010
 
Nominee Nikki Haley Vincent Sheheen
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 690,525 630,535
Percentage 51.4% 46.9%
County results
Haley:      50-60%      60-70%
Sheheen:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Governor before election

Mark Sanford
Republican

 Elected Governor

Nikki Haley
Republican

Elections in South Carolina
Federal government
U.S. President
U.S. Senate
U.S. House of Representatives
State offices
General elections
Gubernatorial elections
State Senate elections
State House elections
Ballot measures

Republican Nikki Haley defeated Democrat Vincent Sheheen in the general election. As of 2018, this is the closest that the Democrats have come to winning the governorship of South Carolina since their last victory in 1998. This is the 1st open seat election since 1994.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Polling
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size		 Margin of
error		 Jim
Rex		 Vincent
Sheheen		 Robert
Ford		 Dwight
Drake*		 Other Undecided
Public Policy Polling (report) May 22–23, 2010 410 ± 4.8% 30% 36% 11% -- -- 23%
Rasmussen Reports (report) May 17, 2010 404 ± 5.0% 22% 30% 4% -- 12% 32%
Rasmussen Reports (report) March 3, 2010 500 ± 4.5% 16% 16% 12% 5% 15% 37%
  • as of March 5, 2010 Dwight Drake withdrew from the race for Governor.[4]

Results
Democratic primary results[5]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Vincent Sheheen 111,637 59.0
Democratic Jim Rex 43,590 23.0
Democratic Robert Ford 34,121 18.0
Total votes 189,348 100

Republican primary

Candidates

Nikki Haley

Gresham Barrett

Henry McMaster

André Bauer
  • Former Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR), former presidential candidate for 2008 Republican nomination[16]

Polling
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size		 Margin of
error		 Henry
McMaster		 Gresham
Barrett		 André
Bauer		 Nikki
Haley		 Other Undecided
Public Policy Polling (report) June 5–6, 2010 998 ± 3.1% 16% 23% 12% 43% -- 7%
Public Policy Polling (report) May 22–23, 2010 638 ± 3.9% 18% 16% 13% 39% -- 14%
Rasmussen Reports (report) May 17, 2010 931 ± 4.5% 19% 17% 12% 30% 3% 13%
Rasmussen Reports (report) March 3, 2010 500 ± 4.5% 21% 14% 17% 12% 9% 29%
InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion Research () December 16, 2009 371 ± 5.1% 22% 9% 22% 13% 6% 28%

Runoff
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size		 Margin of
error		 Nikki
Haley		 Gresham
Barrett		 Undecided
Public Policy Polling (report) June 5–6, 2010 998 ± 3.1% 51% 35% 14%

Results
Republican primary results[5]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Nikki Haley 206,326 48.9
Republican Gresham Barrett 91,824 21.8
Republican Henry McMaster 71,494 16.9
Republican André Bauer 52,607 12.4
Total votes 422,251 100
Republican primary runoff results on June 22[5]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Nikki Haley 233,733 65.1
Republican Gresham Barrett 125,601 34.9
Total votes 359,334 100

Green Party and United Citizens Party candidate
  • Morgan Reeves, Businessman, Minister, and retired National Football League player from Irmo [17]
    • Dr. Reeves was nominated March 30 by the United Citizens Party and South Carolina Green Party April 7 (see SC Election Commission website). Reeves appeared on the November 2nd general election ballot for both parties. An Independent, Dr. Reeves collected enough voter petition signatures to qualify by the July 15th deadline onto a 3rd ballot line.[18]

Working Families Party candidate (ineligible)
  • Jim Rex, State Superintendent of Education from Fairfield County[19]
    • Rex was nominated by the Working Families Party prior to losing the Democratic primary. Rex will not appear on the Working Families ballot line in November due to South Carolina's "sore loser" law that requires candidates not to seek nominations from multiple parties from appearing on the ballot after they lose any one party's nomination (see candidate party pledge forms). Several election law issues are before US appellate court in Richmond, Virginia regarding conformity to the 1965 Voting Rights Act and US Constitutional provisions, see ACLU/Platt v SC [20]

General election

Endorsements

Senator Vincent Sheheen -- South Carolina Chamber of Commerce[21]

Representative Nikki Haley-- National Rifle Association

Representative Nikki Haley-- South Citizens for Life

Predictions
Source Ranking As of
Cook Political Report Lean R[22] October 29, 2010
Rothenberg Safe R[23] October 28, 2010
Rasmussen Reports Lean R[24] October 28, 2010
Swing State Project Likely R
RealClearPolitics Leans R[25] October 29, 2010
Sabato's Crystal Ball Likely R[26] October 28, 2010
CQ Politics Leans R[27] October 29, 2010

Polling
Poll source Dates administered Nikki Haley (R) Vincent Sheheen (D)
Crantford & Associates October 21, 2010 48% 37%
Crantford & Associates October 18, 2010 43% 41%
Winthrop University October 13, 2010 47% 39%
Hamilton Campaigns October 5, 2010 49% 44%
Hamilton Campaigns October 5, 2010 49% 44%
Hamilton Campaigns October 4, 2010 51% 41%
Crantford & Associates October 2, 2010 45% 41%
Rasmussen Reports September 22, 2010 50% 33%
Rasmussen Reports August 25, 2010 52% 36%
Rasmussen Reports July 29, 2010 49% 35%
Rasmussen Reports June 23, 2010 52% 40%
Rasmussen Reports June 10, 2010 55% 34%
Public Policy Polling May 22–23, 2010 44% 34%

Results
South Carolina gubernatorial election, 2010[28]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Nikki Haley 690,525 51.37% -3.75%
Democratic Vincent Sheheen 630,534 46.91% +2.12%
United Citizens Morgan B. Reeves 20,114 1.50%
Write-ins 3,025 0.23%
Majority 59,991 4.46% -5.87%
Turnout 1,344,198 50.92% +6.42%
Republican hold Swing

Debates
  • "First in the State" Republican Gubernatorial Primary Debate

Sponsored by the Republican Parties of Newberry and Laurens Counties
Aired on WIS-TV on September 22, 2009
Watch here

  • "Spotlight on the Candidates" Joint Gubernatorial Primary Debate

Sponsored by the SC Natural Resources Society
Aired on SCETV on November 3, 2009
(This debate marked the first time in state history that gubernatorial primary candidates from both parties participated in the same debate.)[29]
Watch here

  • SCGOP Gubernatorial Debate

Sponsored by the South Carolina Republican Party
Moderated by MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski
Aired on WCSC-TV on January 28, 2010
Watch here

References
  1. Ford to focus on return of video poker Post and Courier, Jan. 14, 2009
  2. Jim Rex announces campaign for governor Archived 2013-01-19 at Archive.today WCBD, September 15, 2009
  3. Sheheen Announces Run for Governor WLTX, Oct. 28, 2009
  4. Dwight Drake Drops out of SC race Archived 2011-07-10 at the Wayback Machine Drake for South Carolina, March 5, 2010
  5. "South Carolina Primary Results". Politico. June 8, 2010. Retrieved June 8, 2010.
  6. Barrett running for S.C. governor Archived 2009-03-05 at the Wayback Machine The State, Mar. 4, 2009
  7. Lt Gov Bauer makes run for governor official Archived 2011-07-22 at the Wayback Machine WPDE, Oct. 29, 2009
  8. Haley announces run for governor Archived 2013-02-05 at Archive.today The State, May 14, 2009
  9. Henry McMaster seeking S.C. Governor post Archived 2013-01-19 at Archive.today WCBD, August 3, 2009
  10. "Governor Mitt Romney Endorses Nikki Haley for South Carolina Governor". Nikkihaley.com. 2010-03-16. Archived from the original on 2010-08-19. Retrieved 2010-08-21.
  11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-08-29. Retrieved 2013-03-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. O'Connor, John (2009-11-12). "Jenny Sanford endorses Nikki Haley - Yahoo elections". TheState.com. Archived from the original on 2010-10-28. Retrieved 2010-08-21.
  13. "Vice President Cheney Endorses Gresham Barrett". GreshamBarrett.com. 2010-06-01. Archived from the original on 2010-06-02. Retrieved 2010-08-21.
  14. ANDY BARR. "Rudy latest '08 vet to endorse in S.C. – Jessica Taylor". Politico.Com. Retrieved 2010-08-21.
  15. "Henry McMaster Endorsed by David Beasley wltx.com | Columbia, SC News, Weather and Sports |". Wltx.com. Retrieved 2010-08-21.
  17. Irmo man clears hurdle to run for governor WACH, March 1, 2010
  18. Green, Libertarian, Working Families, Labor, Constitution, United Citizens, Independence- List of candidates who have filed with these parties. Candidates are nominated by convention and do not appear on Primary ballots.
  19. "Rex counting on fusion voters in governor's race". GoUpstate.com. Retrieved 2010-08-21.
  20. "ACLU to Argue in Appeals Court That South Carolina's Ballot Access Law Is Unconstitutional". CommonDreams.org. Retrieved 2010-08-21.
  21. "WFAE 90.7 FM". Wfae.org. Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2010-08-21.
  22. "2010 Governors Race Ratings". Cook Political Report. Retrieved October 29, 2010.
  23. "Governor Ratings". Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved October 29, 2010.
  24. "Election 2010: Gubernatorial Scorecard". Rasmussen Reports. Retrieved October 29, 2010.
  25. "2010 Governor Races". RealClearPolitics. Retrieved October 29, 2010.
  26. "2010 Governor Ratings". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved October 29, 2010.
  27. "Race Ratings Chart: Governor". CQ Politics. Archived from the original on October 5, 2010. Retrieved October 29, 2010.
  28. http://www.enr-scvotes.org/SC/19077/40477/en/summary.html
  29. Ten Gubernatorial Candidates to Share Stage for Historic Debate on ETV Archived 2010-03-01 at the Wayback Machine SCETV Website, Oct. 23, 2009
Debates
Official campaign websites
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