2010 South Carolina gubernatorial election explained

Election Name:	2010 South Carolina gubernatorial election
Country:	South Carolina
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	Yes
Previous Election:	2006 South Carolina gubernatorial election
Previous Year:	2006
Next Election:	2014 South Carolina gubernatorial election
Next Year:	2014
Election Date:	November 2, 2010
Nominee1:	Nikki Haley
Party1:	Republican Party (United States)
Popular Vote1:	690,525
Percentage1:	51.37%
Nominee2:	Vincent Sheheen
Party2:	Democratic Party (United States)
Popular Vote2:	630,535
Percentage2:	46.91%
Map Size:	230px
Governor
Before Election:	Mark Sanford
Before Party:	Republican Party (United States)
After Election:	Nikki Haley
After Party:	Republican Party (United States)

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.

Republican Nikki Haley defeated Democrat Vincent Sheheen in the general election by a margin of 4.5%. As of 2023, 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 first open-seat election since 1994. Haley was re-elected in 2014 in a rematch with Sheheen.

Republican primary

According to CNN, Haley initially entered the gubernatorial primary as a dark horse candidate. In an article covering her surge in the primary in the weeks prior to the election, it was noted that a "surprise" endorsement from former Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin boosted Haley's candidacy. Haley's campaign was backed by TV ads run by ReformSC, an advocacy group funded by allies of outgoing governor Mark Sanford.^[1]

Candidates

• Gresham Barrett, U.S. Congressman^[2]
• André Bauer, Lieutenant Governor^[3]
• Nikki Haley, State Representative^[4]
• Henry McMaster, State Attorney General^[5]

Endorsements

Nikki Haley

• Former Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA), former presidential candidate for 2008 Republican nomination^[6]
• Former Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK), former Republican vice presidential candidate^[7]
• Former First Lady of South Carolina Jenny Sanford^[8]
• Republican Liberty Caucus

Gresham Barrett

• Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney^[9]

Henry McMaster

• Former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani (R-NY), former presidential candidate for 2008 Republican Nomination^[10]
• Senator John McCain (R-AZ), former candidate for 2008 Presidential Election ^[10]
• Former Governor David Beasley (R-SC)^[11]

André Bauer

• Former Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR), former presidential candidate for 2008 Republican nomination^[12]

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%	align=center	43%	--	7%
Public Policy Polling (report)	May 22–23, 2010	638	± 3.9%	18%	16%	13%	align=center	39%	--	14%
Rasmussen Reports (report)	May 17, 2010	931	± 4.5%	19%	17%	12%	align=center	30%	3%	13%
Rasmussen Reports (report)	March 3, 2010	500	± 4.5%	align=center	21%	Results Democratic primary Candidates Robert Ford, State Senator from Charleston^[13] Jim Rex, State Superintendent of Education from Fairfield County^[14] Vincent Sheheen, State Senator from Camden^[15] 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% align=center 36% 11% -- -- 23% Rasmussen Reports (report) May 17, 2010 404 ± 5.0% 22% align=center 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.^[16] Results Other Parties Morgan Reeves, Businessman, Minister, and retired National Football League player from Irmo^[17] Dr. Reeves was nominated on March 30 by the United Citizens Party and South Carolina Green Party on 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] 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 did 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 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.)^[21] 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 Republican Candidates For South Carolina Governor April Debate: Watch here Endorsements Senator Vincent Sheheen -- South Carolina Chamber of Commerce^[22] Representative Nikki Haley-- National Rifle Association of America Representative Nikki Haley-- South Citizens for Life Predictions Source Ranking As of Cook Political Report^[23] October 14, 2010 Rothenberg^[24] October 28, 2010 RealClearPolitics^[25] November 1, 2010 Sabato's Crystal Ball^[26] October 28, 2010 CQ Politics^[27] October 28, 2010 Polling Poll source Dates administered Nikki Haley (R) Vincent Sheheen (D) Crantford & Associates October 21, 2010 align=center 48% 37% Crantford & Associates October 18, 2010 align=center 43% 41% Winthrop University October 13, 2010 align=center 47% 39% Hamilton Campaigns October 5, 2010 align=center 49% 44% Hamilton Campaigns October 5, 2010 align=center 49% 44% Hamilton Campaigns October 4, 2010 align=center 51% 41% Crantford & Associates October 2, 2010 align=center 45% 41% Rasmussen Reports September 22, 2010 align=center 50% 33% Rasmussen Reports August 25, 2010 align=center 52% 36% Rasmussen Reports July 29, 2010 align=center 49% 35% Rasmussen Reports June 23, 2010 align=center 52% 40% Rasmussen Reports June 10, 2010 align=center 55% 34% Public Policy Polling May 22–23, 2010 align=center 44% 34% Results Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Colleton (largest city: Walterboro) Kershaw (Largest city: Camden) Florence (Largest city: Florence) Charleston (largest city: Charleston) Darlington (largest city: Hartsville) Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Newberry (Largest city: Newberry) Saluda (Largest city: Saluda) Edgefield (Largest city: Edgefield) McCormick (largest town: McCormick) External links South Carolina State Election Commission South Carolina Governor Candidates at Project Vote Smart Campaign contributions for 2010 South Carolina Governor from Follow the Money South Carolina Governor 2010 from OurCampaigns.com 2010 South Carolina Governor General Election: Nikki Haley (R) vs Vincent Sheheen (D) graph of multiple polls from Pollster.com Election 2010: South Carolina Governor from Rasmussen Reports 2010 South Carolina Governor from Real Clear Politics 2010 South Carolina Governor's Race from CQ Politics Race Profile in The New York Times Debates South Carolina Republican Gubernatorial Primary Debate on C-SPAN, June 1, 2010 South Carolina Democratic Gubernatorial Primary Debate on C-SPAN, June 3, 2010 South Carolina Republican Gubernatorial Primary Runoff Debate on C-SPAN, June 17, 2010 Official campaign websites Gresham Barrett for Governor André Bauer for Governor Dwight Drake for Governor Robert Ford for Governor Nikki Haley for Governor Henry McMaster for Governor Morgan Reeves for Governor Jim Rex for Governor Vincent Sheheen for Governor

Notes and References

1. Web site: Hamby . Peter . May 20, 2010 . Haley has momentum in South Carolina race, rivals admit . February 8, 2023 . CNN . en . https://web.archive.org/web/20100523235726/https://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/05/20/haley-has-momentum-in-south-carolina-race-rivals-admit/ . May 23, 2010 . dead.
2. http://www.thestate.com/154/story/702819.html Barrett running for S.C. governor
3. http://www.carolinalive.com/news/story.aspx?id=369789 Lt Gov Bauer makes run for governor official
4. http://www.thestate.com/breaking/story/786616.html Haley announces run for governor
5. http://www2.counton2.com/cbd/news/local/article/henry_mcmaster_seeking_s.c._governor_post/49952/ Henry McMaster seeking S.C. Governor post
6. Web site: Governor Mitt Romney Endorses Nikki Haley for South Carolina Governor . Nikkihaley.com . 2010-03-16 . 2010-08-21 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100819185632/http://www.nikkihaley.com/romney . 2010-08-19 .
7. Web site: Sarah Palin to Endorse Nikki Haley . 2013-03-27 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120829034501/http://www.nikkihaley.com/2010/05/13/sarah-palin-to-endorse-nikki-haley/ . 2012-08-29 .
8. Web site: O'Connor . John . Jenny Sanford endorses Nikki Haley - Yahoo elections . TheState.com . 2009-11-12 . 2010-08-21 . https://web.archive.org/web/20101028015327/http://www.thestate.com/2009/11/12/1024206/jenny-sanford-endorses-nikki-haley.html . 2010-10-28 . dead .
9. Web site: Vice President Cheney Endorses Gresham Barrett . GreshamBarrett.com . 2010-06-01 . 2010-08-21 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100602193726/http://www.greshambarrett.com/home/2010/05/vice-president-cheney-endorses-gresham-barrett/ . 2010-06-02 .
10. Web site: ANDY BARR. Rudy latest '08 vet to endorse in S.C. – Jessica Taylor . Politico.Com . 2010-08-21 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110107013628/http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/38207.html . January 7, 2011 . live.
11. Web site: Henry McMaster Endorsed by David Beasley wltx.com | Columbia, SC News, Weather and Sports | . Wltx.com . 2010-08-21.
12. http://www.wciv.com/news/stories/1209/690080.html
13. http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2009/jan/14/ford_focus_on_return_video_poker68317/ Ford to focus on return of video poker
14. http://www2.counton2.com/cbd/news/local/local_govtpolitics/article/jim_rex_announces_campaign_for_governor/64644/ Jim Rex announces campaign for governor
15. http://www.wltx.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=80066 Sheheen Announces Run for Governor
16. http://www.dwightdrake.com/blog/2010/3/thank-you/ Dwight Drake Drops out of SC race
17. http://www.midlandsconnect.com/news/story.aspx?id=423695/ Irmo man clears hurdle to run for governor
18. http://www.scvotes.org/files/2010%20Convention%20Party%20Candidates.pdf Green, Libertarian, Working Families, Labor, Constitution, United Citizens, Independence
19. Web site: Rex counting on fusion voters in governor's race . GoUpstate.com . 2010-08-21.
20. Web site: ACLU to Argue in Appeals Court That South Carolina's Ballot Access Law Is Unconstitutional . CommonDreams.org . 2010-08-21.
21. http://www.scetv.org/index.php/press/release/ten_gubernatorial_candidates_share_stage_for_historic_debate_on_etv/ Ten Gubernatorial Candidates to Share Stage for Historic Debate on ETV
22. Web site: WFAE 90.7 FM . Wfae.org . 2010-08-21 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110718150044/http://www.wfae.org/wfae/stat_search.cfm?id=6255&action=display . 2011-07-18 .
23. Web site: 2010 Governors Race Ratings . https://web.archive.org/web/20101028141343/http://cookpolitical.com/charts/governors/raceratings_2010-10-14_12-35-09.php . dead . October 28, 2010 . . October 28, 2010.
24. Web site: Governor Ratings . . October 28, 2010.
25. Web site: 2010 Governor Races . . October 28, 2010.
26. Web site: THE CRYSTAL BALL'S FINAL CALLS . October 28, 2010 . . October 28, 2010.
27. Web site: Race Ratings Chart: Governor . . October 28, 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20101005231611/http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=ratings-governor . October 5, 2010 .