In the final stretch before Election Day, Democratic nominee Jermaine Johnson spent Wednesday on a seven-stop Get Out The Vote tour. At Brookland Baptist Church in West Columbia, he traded his campaign suit for an apron stamped with his new SC logo and served southern-style lunch to seniors. Johnson is seeking to become South Carolina's first Black governor and the first Democrat to win the office since 1998.
The church's seniors' discount day brought Johnson to a buffet Brookland Baptist runs five days a week; roughly 100 people were eating there that day, the South Carolina Daily Gazette reported. The paper spoke with Leonard Taylor, 79, who said voters want candidates who listen, and Janice Rumph, 83, who said she had already voted for Johnson on an all-Democratic ballot during early voting. Rumph said meeting him in person made her feel more at ease.
A Governor's Race Still Favoring the GOP
Johnson, a South Carolina state representative, faces Republican Attorney General Alan Wilson, who has held that office since 2010, in the race to succeed term-limited Gov. Henry McMaster. The contest is the marquee event of South Carolina's 2026 midterms, with the state also serving as the first state on Democrats' 2028 presidential nominating calendar. Johnson won his party's nomination outright with 60% of the vote in a three-way primary. No Democrat has captured the governorship since Jim Hodges in 1998, and Johnson is seeking to become South Carolina's first Black governor. As a separate historical precedent, Capital B News reports that Doug Wilder was elected Virginia's first Black governor in 1989.
Polling has not shown a close race. A South Carolina Policy Council poll conducted Oct. 16-25 by Targoz Market Research among 1,200 registered voters had Wilson leading Johnson 51% to 41%, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.77%, according to Fox Carolina. Johnson told the Gazette that polls do not account for all the new voters excited to vote for him, and he contends many newly registered South Carolinians are Democrats — though the state does not register voters by political party, so that claim cannot be independently verified.
Money, a Bus Tour and a Call From Kamala Harris
Fundraising has told a similar story to the polling. Wilson's campaign reported raising $2.5 million from July 1 through Oct. 14 and had nearly $1.7 million in cash available, as reported by ABC News 4. Johnson's campaign reported more than $867,000 collected with about $136,000 cash on hand as of the same date, though his campaign called that momentum unprecedented and said it would fund voter communications through Election Day.
Wilson has been on a two-week statewide bus tour, with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp scheduled to join him aboard. Johnson, for his part, held a virtual fundraiser with former Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday evening that required a minimum $100 donation to join; his campaign did not disclose how much the event raised or how many people participated. During a 10-minute conversation with Harris, Johnson introduced his 13-year-old daughter, Khloe, one of his three children — Harris reportedly told her that she and others were doing their work because of young people like her, and encouraged Khloe to lead without seeking permission, telling her she was born a leader.
Closing Arguments on Both Sides
Johnson has also campaigned alongside national Democratic figures including Rahm Emanuel, Ro Khanna, Gavin Newsom, JB Pritzker and Raphael Warnock. He said voters recognize him because he has shown up in their communities, and told the Gazette he wants people to understand they have a real choice in this election. Johnson said getting people involved matters more to him than fundraising totals, and that he will keep campaigning and tell voters their issues are his issues and that they will not be forgotten. He added that he remains optimistic despite the polling.
The closing days bring dueling rallies to Rock Hill. President Donald Trump is scheduled to hold his second South Carolina rally in two weeks there Thursday to boost Republican turnout, and Johnson is scheduled to rally in the same city with Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett hours later. Both campaigns have shifted squarely into turnout mode in the final stretch, according to WIS-TV.
Record Turnout as the Clock Runs Out
South Carolina's early-vote total has already set a record for a non-presidential election cycle, surpassing the previous high of 561,563 ballots cast early in 2022, per the Post and Courier. That outlet reported 618,986 South Carolinians had cast a midterm ballot as of its count, while ABC Columbia separately reported more than 670,000 ballots cast by Wednesday — different tallies from different reporting windows. Early voting runs through Saturday, with Election Day set for Tuesday, Nov. 3, when polls statewide will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., according to WBTV.
What the turnout numbers show—and don't show
The reported 2026 early-vote total has passed the previous non-presidential-cycle high of 561,563 ballots, set in 2022, but the state's all-time record remains 1,471,663, cast in the 2024 presidential election, according to the South Carolina Election Commission.
Early-vote totals do not establish partisan support. WRDW/WAGT reported that South Carolina does not make voter-participation details by party affiliation available in general elections, so the totals cannot verify Johnson's claim about the political affiliation of newly registered voters.
