Off the sidelines: McMaster backs mainline candidates over Freedom Caucus in GOP primary (2024)

COLUMBIA— For two years, Gov. Henry McMaster carefully avoided the clash between the right-wing Freedom Caucus and the GOP majority in the Statehouse.

But with days to go until the June 11 primaries that could decide the state’s political direction, McMaster has gotten off the sidelines.

For the first time in his tenure as governor, McMaster last month endorsed three primary challengers to sitting House Republicans in which all three are taking on prominent Upstate members of the Freedom Caucus.

In tandem this week, the governor’s political organization is flooding the state with a $160,000 mail campaign in support of GOP incumbents, most of them facing Freedom Caucus-aligned opponents.

McMaster is backing candidates “who share his conservative values and support his policies and proposals for prosperity for all South Carolinians,” Brandon Charochak, the governor’s spokesman, told The Post and Courier.

Though the governor has rarely, if ever, publicly mentioned the Freedom Caucus, seeking to stay above the intraparty squabbling in the House, the right-wing group of about 16 members has bashed or stymied several of his priorities.

Freedom Caucus members and candidates still complain about the $1.3 billion deal that brought Scout Motors to the Midlands, and in the last minutes of this year's regular legislative session, the caucus killed a bill that would have merged several of the state’s health agencies, a key McMaster priority.

The governor “understands that the Freedom Caucus has become a dangerous party, and they have done nothing for South Carolina except for move us back,” said Adam Crisp, a Lyman town councilor whom McMaster endorsed in his bid to oust a Freedom Caucus member, state Rep. Rob Harris in Spartanburg County.

Freedom Caucus vice chair state Rep. RJ May, R-West Columbia, said the endorsem*nts didn't surprise him and that he doubted they would have any impact on the races.

"He’s not necessarily a standard-bearer of the conservative movement," May said. "If one thing is clear during this primary cycle is that the swamp is going to back the swampiest candidate that they can."

Harris could not be reached for comment on the endorsem*nt, but in an interview with The Post and Courier last month, he said the more that mainline Republicans have attacked him, the more support he's received from the community.

McMaster also endorsed Anderson attorney Kyle White’s campaign to oust Rep. April Cromer, R-Anderson, and Campobello Mayor Jason Shamis’ bid to oust Rep. Josiah Magnuson, a key leader of the renegade caucus from Spartanburg County.

The governor also endorsed former clerk of court and County Councilman Paul Wickensimer in an open seat in Greenville over his Freedom Caucus-aligned opponent County Councilman Stan Tzouvelekas.

Eleven of the 12 Freedom Caucus members who are seeking reelection face mainline Republican challengers. McMaster’s picks are among the strongest of the bunch.

Though the three Freedom Caucus incumbents, Magnuson, Harris and Cromer, have all outspent their challengers so far in the cycle, the trio McMaster endorsed had more cash on hand for the last weeks of the campaign than their opponents, according to campaign finance filings.

Magnuson, Harris and Cromer have all recently drawn headlines. Magnuson is the one who objected to the health agency merger bill on the last day of the session, killing it. Cromer invoked a rarely used rule the day before, forcing the House reading clerk to read the massive health agency bill aloud for about an hour.

Harris is one of the most conservative members of the House. He voted against a near-total abortion ban in 2023 because he believed that the exceptions were too broad.

Harris and Cromer both won primary upsets over veteran lawmakers in 2022, with Harris beating House Education Chairwoman Rita Allison, and Cromer seeing off Rep. Brian White, the former head of the powerful budget-writing House Ways and Means Committee.

The governor is also ramping up his efforts to defend incumbent mainline GOP House members from Freedom Caucus challengers with the six-figure mailer campaign. He’s endorsed 22 legislators whose constituents will receive the mailers touting their support for gubernatorial priorities related to criminal justice and immigration, Charochak said.

In the Charleston area, the governor is backing incumbent state Reps. Gary Brewer, R-Charleston; Chris Murphy, R-North Charleston; Joe Bustos, R-Mount Pleasant; and state Sen. Brian Adams, R-Goose Creek.

He's even hit the campaign trail with one of the incumbents battling the Freedom Caucus in a primary.

On May 24, the governor went on a swing through Assistant Majority Leader Jay West’s district, stopping at farmers’ markets and stores in small towns across southern Anderson County with West, who is facing a serious primary challenge from a Freedom Caucus-aligned opponent.

West’s challenger, construction company owner Lee Gilreath, cited his opposition to several gubernatorial priorities, like the health agency merger bill and the Scout incentives, as the very reason he’s running.

“I’m going to represent the people in this district,” he told The Post and Courier in an interview last month. “They want someone who’s going to stand up for their rights and what they need instead of what Columbia thinks we need.”

The governor has strong political support from across the Republican Party, and his endorsem*nts will move undecided voters off the fence, West said.

“People respect him and know that his passion is for the people of the state of South Carolina,” the Belton Republican said. “It makes a difference that people understand that there are people who want to govern the state like he does.”

Reporter Max White contributed from Spartanburg.