SC-Gov: On Thursday, defeated GOP primary candidates Catherine Templeton and Kevin Bryant endorsed wealthy businessman John Warren for his June 26 runoff with Gov. Henry McMaster. The incumbent led Warren 42-28 in the first round of the primary on Tuesday, while Templeton and Bryant took 21 and 7 percent, respectively. (The remaining 2 percent went to Yancey McGill.)
Warren would be a huge threat to McMaster if he takes the lion's share of Templeton and Bryant's supporters in round two, and the governor and his allies are spending big to make sure that doesn't happen. On Wednesday, McMaster launched what his campaign says is a six-figure TV buy. McMaster tries to cram a lot into 30 seconds, saying that on his watch, "jobs hit record highs, we've stood up for the rule of law and for the lives of unborn children."
The camera then pans in slow motion through a room full of smiling people pointing upward with McMaster in the middle as he declares, "We have faith in God and in our nation, and we support our president," which makes for kind of a unnerving visual. The spot ends with a clip of Donald Trump praising McMaster, which also is an unnerving visual.
While McMaster's spot is positive, his allies at Palmetto PAC have launched what the Post & Courier says is a $1 million buy hitting Warren. Their minute-long spot beings with an angry narrator accusing Warren of not being "100 percent pro-life. In fact, he brags about abortion exceptions." He continues by saying Warren is weak on guns rights, has "made millions as a predatory lender," and "didn't stand with Trump" in 2016.
The rest of the ad praised McMaster for being "pro-life" and NRA-endorsed, and for having a long career in public service that began as a U.S. attorney under Ronald Reagan; the ad even rolls out a vintage clip of Reagan and McMaster walking together. It ends with a clip of Trump endorsing McMaster in person (not on Twitter!).