Democratic gubernatorial nominee Dr. Jermaine Johnson kicked off his statewide campaign tour on Monday with a full day of stops across Anderson and Pickens counties, two Upstate strongholds that have not exactly been friendly territory for his party. Johnson, joined by his running mate Sam Skardon, launched what the campaign is calling the College & County Tour with a schedule built around meeting local leaders, community members, and college students rather than a single big rally.
A Deliberate Start in Red Country
The choice of Anderson and Pickens counties as a launch point is no accident. As FOX Carolina News reported, the day began with an Anderson community tour running from 10 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. that included stops at the Anderson Mayor's Office, the Anderson County Veterans Memorial, and Carolina Wren Park, home to a public art display honoring Chadwick Boseman.
Johnson's tour also stopped at Church Street Heritage Plaza, a site with its own layered history in downtown Anderson. Completed in 2017, the plaza honors a historic African-American business and cultural district that thrived there from roughly 1907 until it was dismantled by urban renewal in the 1980s, according to The Anderson Observer.
Town Hall and a Local Endorsement
From noon to 2 p.m., the campaign held a community town hall luncheon at the Civic Center of Anderson on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, featuring an open conversation and audience question-and-answer session, per the same FOX Carolina report. Anderson County Councilman Glen Davis was slated to introduce Johnson at the event, lending a local Republican-area official's platform to the Democratic ticket's opening pitch.
Johnson chose Charleston businessman and community lender Sam Skardon as his running mate on July 30, according to the Post and Courier, which noted the campaign emphasized his experience in small-business financing. Skardon previously chaired the Charleston County Democratic Party and worked as an aide to the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis, giving the ticket a mix of legislative and civic-organizing credentials heading into the fall.
From Pendleton to Clemson
The tour's afternoon leg moved into Pickens County, where an informal meet-and-greet dubbed the Pendleton gathering ran from 4 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. at Brews at the Square in downtown Pendleton. The day closed with Tiger Jamz, a 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. event at Clemson University's Hendrix Student Center ballrooms geared specifically toward students and young voters, according to FOX Carolina's coverage of the schedule.
Organizers described Monday's Anderson and Pickens county visits as the first day of a multi-county sweep that will lead into the broader fall campaign season. The strategy of opening in Upstate counties, rather than the more Democratic-leaning Midlands or Lowcountry, signals an attempt to expand the map beyond the party's traditional base ahead of November.
A 28-Year Drought and a Steep Climb
Johnson has a lot of ground to make up. No Democrat has won a South Carolina gubernatorial election since 1998, when Jim Hodges defeated incumbent Republican David Beasley, according to Wikipedia's record of that race. Hodges remains the only Democrat elected governor of the state since 1982.
Johnson secured the Democratic nomination by winning 59.7% of the vote in the June 9 primary, defeating candidates Billy Webster — a former chief of staff to Governor Richard Riley — and Mullins McLeod, per Wikipedia's account of the primary results. His general election opponent, Republican Attorney General Alan Wilson, won the GOP nomination in a June 23 runoff with 68.6% of the vote against Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette. Incumbent Republican Governor Henry McMaster cannot seek another term due to term limits.
Johnson's path to the ballot has included national campaign organizing. He holds a doctorate in business administration from Northcentral University and played college basketball at the College of Charleston, according to a report from The College Today. He served as the South Carolina campaign chair for Andrew Yang's 2020 Democratic presidential primary run, per The Winchendon School.
Cost of Living Looms Over the Race
Johnson has leaned on statistics to make his case against the current Republican-led state government. In his official Democratic response to Governor McMaster's State of the State address in January 2026, Johnson cited data showing South Carolina ranked 43rd nationally in education and had one of the highest homicide rates in the country, according to his official statement released through the South Carolina Democratic Party.
Pocketbook issues are also shaping the contest. A 2025 FinanceBuzz study found South Carolina drivers spend 2.82% of their monthly household income on gasoline, above the national average of 2.28%, a gap Hoodline covered in its report on rising fuel costs and McMaster's refusal to budge on gas tax relief. The gas-tax dispute is one issue in the contest. With Johnson framing his campaign around working-class families and high living costs, and Wilson inheriting the incumbent party's record on issues like fuel prices, the general election is shaping up as a test of whether an Upstate-first strategy can dent 28 years of Republican control of the governor's mansion.
