State Offices
In South Carolina, the statewide elected officials like Governor, Treasurer, etc. are called Constitutional Officers. You might win a bar bet with that term, except maybe in Columbia or John Holder’s class. Each is independently elected except Lt. Governor.
They include:
Governor (and Lieutenant Governor, elected on one ticket)
They are elected every four years, in Presidential election years (so this year, 2026)
Governor
The Governor and Lt. Governor offices – and all other SC ‘Executive’ offices (or Constitutional Officers, as we learned today… and did you win the bar bet?) – are up for election in 2026, beginning with the Primary in June.
Incumbent Governor Republican Henry McMaster is term-limited and cannot run in the 2026 election (but he can run again in 2030 – the term limit prohibits holding office in more than two consecutive terms). Here are the Republicans who filed:
Rom Reddy
Nancy Mace
Ralph Norman
Alan Wilson
Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette
State Sen. Josh Kimbrell
Jacqueline Hicks DuBose
Here are the Democratic Party Candidates:
Jermaine Johnson, currently serving in the SC House, announced his candidacy for Governor on October 28, 2025, after looking into it with an ‘exploratory committee’ for several months.
He spoke at the SCDP Convention on May 31, 2025, and at our Dessert Before Dinner party, also in May.
Jermaine Johnson
Candidate for Governor
Mullins McLeod has announced his candidacy for the Democratic Party race for Governor in 2026. The link will take you to his website for an intro video, platform, donations, etc.
Mullins McLeod
Candidate for Governor
McCleod appeared at the YCDP County Convention on March 14 and gave this speech.
William (Billy) Webster
Candidate for Governor
Billy Webster filed for the Democratic nomination for Governor on March 25. Check his website for details, and this TV interview about running for Governor.
Lieutenant Governor
The Lieutenent Governor runs on the same ticket as the Governor. As of April 1, only the candidate for the United Citizens Party has listed a running mate.
The incumbent Lt. Governor, Republican Pamela Evette, is running for Governor.
Attorney General
Three Republicans have filed for Attorney General as of March 25.
On March 27, Richard Hricik filed for the Democratic nomination.
Richard Hricik
Candidate for Attorney General
Hricik is a personal injury lawyer in Mt. Pleasant. As of April 9, we don’t see any campaign materials online. Here is his business website and personal Facebook page. This article noted that Hricik represented the Democratic Party in court to extend the voter registration deadline after Hurricane Helene. He was previously a candidate for State Senate. As the only Democratic candidate, he will skip the primary and go straight to the November General Election
Secretary of State
Republican incumbent Mark Hammond, who was re-elected in 2022 with 63.3% of the vote, is seeking a seventh term in office.
Two Democrats filed in the final days, and are listed below:
Jason Belton
Candidate for Secretary of State
Belton’s LInkedIn page describes him as the State Operations & Field Director for the SC AFL-CIO, and former Senior Advisor with the SC Legislative Progressive Caucus and SC Crisis Director at National Action Network.
Commissioner of Agriculture
Fred West, Danny Ford and Cody Simpson have filed for the Republican nomination, and Chris Nelums filed for the United Citiens Party.
DeShawn Blanding has filed for the Democratic nomination
DeShawn Blanding
Candidate for Commissioner of Agriculture
Blanding has been a senior Washington representative for the Food and Environment program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. As the only Democratic candidate, he will skip the primary and go straight to the November General Election.
Comptroller General
Mark Burkhold has filed for the Republican nomination.
Two Democrats have filed on the last day. Details below.
Wikipedia reports that Republican Comptroller Richard Eckstrom, who was re-elected unopposed in 2022, left office on April 30, 2023, following the discovery of a $3.5 billion accounting error.[19] Governor Henry McMaster appointed Democrat Brian J. Gaines to serve the remainder of Eckstrom's term. He is not running for a full term.[20][21]
Tiffany Boozer
Candidate for Comptroller General
Boozer is a CPA, currently working in the Comptroller General office as the Quality Assurance Manager according to her LinkedIn profile and the office web site.
Bruce K. Cole
Candidate for Comptroller General
(withdrew candidacy for Treasurer)
Bruce K. Cole is running for Comptroller General. He had previously filed for Treasurer, but withdrew from that election.
We don’t find any campaign material online as of April 9. Cole had created a web page for his run as Treasurer, but never activated it. He has a LinkedIn page that notes that he is the “Founder and President at Richard T. Greener Institute for Social Policy Research” as well as Managing Director of Palmetto Realty Advisors.
Superintendent of Education
The incumbent is highly partisan and equally unqualified Republican Ellen Weaver. YCDP TV made a campaign video about her in 2022. She is running for re-election. Baba Amin Ojuok has filed to run for the United Citizens party, which will not have a primary.
Here are the Democrats running in the Primary:
Sylvia Wright
Candidate for
Superintendent of Education
Sylvia Wright spoke at the SCDP Convention on May 31, 2025.
At the 2026 YCDP Convention, spokesman Frank Maurizio made this speech on her behalf.
Lisa Ellis
Candidate for Superintendent of Education
Lisa Ellis is in her 25th year of education as the Student Activities Director at Blythewood High School in Richland 2. She is also an adjunct professor at the College of Charleston in the Education department. At the 2026 YCDP County Convention, spokesman Evan Lawton made this speech on her behalf.
Treasurer
Incumbent state Treasurer, Republican Curtis Loftis, has been embroiled in controversy over a $1.8 billion “accounting error” in state funds. Wikipedia reports that the South Carolina Senate voted to remove Loftis from office in a 33–8 vote in April 2025, but the House did not vote on his removal before the end of their legislative session. Loftis has announced his intention to run again in 2026 and has filed for the primary.
Two Democrats have also filed. A third filed, then withdrew to run for a different office. Details below:
Vincent Coe
Candidate for Treasurer
Vincent Coe is an attorney and bank officer in Greenville
Trav Robertson Jr
Candidate for Treasurer
Trav Robertson Jr is former chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party, and was former deputy state treasurer. He also served as Barack Obama's South Carolina campaign manager in 2008.
As of March 12, we don’t find any of his own campaign material online. We did find this ActBlue account for donations.
WITHDRAWN
Bruce K Cole
Bruce Cole had filed for the Democratic nomination for SC Treasurer. However, he withdrew his candidacy from that office and has now filed for Comptroller General.