• SC-03: A South Carolina congressional candidate will soon learn whether Donald Trump's "COMPLETE AND TOTAL ENDORSEMENT" will be enough to help him overcome some major obstacles as he lurches toward primary day.
That test will take place on Tuesday in the dark red 3rd District in the northwestern part of the state, where Trump is backing far-right pastor Mark Burns to succeed retiring Rep. Jeff Duncan. And it comes after two successive weeks in which Trump endorsees fell short in primaries: David Covey in Texas and Christine Serrano Glassner in New Jersey.
Burns, of course, is hoping for a different fate. He's made a name for himself for, among many other things, calling for the government to "start executing people who are found guilty for their treasonous acts." In the same jeremiad, he named Sen. Lindsey Graham, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and anyone who promotes "LGBTQ indoctrination" as some of the alleged traitors he'd like to see put to death.
But Burns, who badly lost to GOP Rep. William Timmons twice in the neighboring 4th District, isn't getting much aid from people other than Trump in his quest to win his new constituency.
For one, donors don't seem very interested in Burns: He self-funded $500,000 of the $516,000 that his campaign brought in through May 22. Neither do campaign workers, since he recently told The State's Joseph Bustos that he wasn't spending much of his limited funds on paid staff.
The pastor has also received relatively little aid from outside groups. The only pro-Burns spending that the FEC has tracked is a $100,000 media buy from a group called Our American Century.
Anyone who wants to see Burns in Congress, though, may have some extra time to get involved. South Carolina requires a runoff on June 25 for primaries where no one earns a majority of the vote, and with seven candidates on the ballot, it would be a surprise if this race didn't go into overtime.
Burns' two main intra-party rivals, Air National Guard Lt. Col. Sheri Biggs and state Rep. Stewart Jones, are each hoping for a spot in a second round. Gov. Henry McMaster is not only supporting Biggs but has also filmed an ad for her aimed at convincing MAGA fans who don't know or care who Trump actually endorsed that Biggs has his blessing anyway.
To achieve this sleight-of-hand, McMaster first reminds viewers that he was the first statewide elected official anywhere in the country to back Trump in 2016, then praises Biggs as a "strong, conservative, pro-Trump" contender. The spot also features a photo of Biggs standing next to a beaming Trump.
The Post and Courier notes that the wealthy Biggs has longstanding ties to McMaster, who has flown on her private plane more than anyone else. Many of Duncan's former staffers are also supporting her, though the congressman, whose estranged wife accused him of infidelity in divorce proceedings last year, hasn't taken sides.
Biggs has self-funded much of her campaign, though unlike Burns, she's also relying on donations. She's also benefited from over $300,000 in support from a group called the Elect Principled Veterans Fund.
Jones, who is a co-founder of the state's branch of the far-right Freedom Caucus, has access to considerably less money than either Burns or Biggs, but one prominent group is hoping its investment will make up for that. Protect Freedom PAC has deployed $670,000 to help Jones, which includes ads starring Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul touting Jones as "a true defender of liberty."
The field also includes Kevin Bishop, a former Graham communications director who probably didn't expect to be running against an opponent who wants to murder his longtime boss.