South Carolina 2026 Election & Infrastructure Intelligence

# South Carolina Elections and Infrastructure Overview **As of:** August 3, 2026 South Carolina’s 2026 election environment changed abruptly after Senator Lindsey Graham’s death. A special Republican primary is scheduled for August 11, with a runoff on August 25 if no candidate receives a majority. Democrat Annie Andrews is already nominated for the November 3 general election. The special contest is directly connected to House control because Representatives Ralph Norman and Russell Fry entered the Senate field. Fry remains the Republican nominee in SC-07 and may run for both offices under state law, but could accept only one if elected. The open governor’s race is Alan Wilson versus Jermaine Johnson. Wilson won the June 23 Republican runoff over Pamela Evette; Johnson won the Democratic primary. The next governor will inherit an unresolved data-center policy environment and major decisions involving electric generation, grid expansion, water use, tax incentives, ports, advanced manufacturing, nuclear assets, and local land-use authority. ## Praevoium infrastructure stakes South Carolina is considering multiple data-center frameworks. S.867 and S.902 propose state siting and certification systems, efficiency and water standards, infrastructure assessments, buffer and community-impact requirements, utility-rate and cost-allocation rules, decommissioning security, and local-planning coordination. S.724 would require high-water-use commercial data centers to report annual consumption. H.5484 would add data-center electric-service terms, water reporting, decommissioning requirements, and restrictions on future tax exemptions. The major planning question is whether South Carolina adopts a development-enabling framework with enforceable cost and resource safeguards, or continues project-by-project negotiation through utilities and local governments. ## Priority districts - **SC-01:** Ports, military facilities, coastal resilience, rapid Lowcountry growth, insuran

Race	Status	Candidates	Impact	Key issue
Governor	See research	See candidate dossiers	Medium	Infrastructure and policy impact
U.S. Senate special election	See research	See candidate dossiers	Medium	Infrastructure and policy impact

# South Carolina Race and Candidate Dossiers Posture taxonomy: **Enable | Pause | Restrict | Conditional | Mixed | Unverified** ## Governor - Status: Set - Stage: General election - Praevoium impact: Critical - Candidates: Alan Wilson (R); Jermaine Johnson (D) - Polling: No verified independent public poll - Infrastructure issues: Data-center siting; utility rates; water; ports; manufacturing; permitting ## U.S. Senate special election - Status: Republican nominee unresolved - Stage: Republican special primary August 11; general November 3 - Praevoium impact: Critical - Candidates: Annie Andrews (D); Darline Graham (R); Ralph Norman (R); Russell Fry (R); Mark Sanford (R); Mark Lynch (R); additional Republican filers - Polling: Crowded-field polling is sparse and sponsor-sensitive - Infrastructure issues: AI infrastructure; energy; defense; ports; House vacancy risk ## U.S. House District 1 - Status: Set - Stage: General election - Praevoium impact: High - Candidates: Jenny Costa Honeycutt (R); Nancy Lacore (D); Clayton Cuteri (write-in) - Polling: No verified independent public poll - Infrastructure issues: Lowcountry growth; ports; military; coastal resilience; data centers ## U.S. House District 2 - Status: Set - Stage: General election - Praevoium impact: Moderate - Candidates: Joe Wilson (R); Zyon Khalifa (D) - Polling: No verified independent public poll - Infrastructure issues: Savannah River Site; nuclear; manufacturing; Columbia-region growth ## U.S. House District 3 - Status: Set - Stage: General election - Praevoium impact: High - Candidates: Sheri Biggs (R); Eunice Lehmacher (D); Brian Corriea (L) - Polling: No verified independent public poll - Infrastructure issues: Upstate manufacturing; grid; nuclear; Clemson research; water ## U.S. House District 4 - Status: Set - Stage: General election - Praevoium impact: High - Candidates: William Timmons (R); Courtney McClain (D) - Polling: No verified independent public poll - Infrastructure issues: Greenville-Spartanburg growth; advanced manufacturing; grid; AI ## U.S. House District 5 - Status: Set - Stage: General election - Praevoium impact: High - Candidates: Wes Climer (R); Mallory Dittmer (D); Andy Kaplan (Forward) - Polling: No verified independent public poll - Infrastructure issues: Charlotte-region growth; power; manufacturing; water; logistics ## U.S. House District 6 - Status: Candidate list requires final ballot refresh - Stage: General election - Praevoium impact: High - Candidates: James Clyburn (D); Republican and minor-party nominees require final certification refresh - Polling: No verified independent public poll - Infrastructure issues: Majority-Black district; ports; rail; rural broadband; energy affordability ## U.S. House District 7 - Status: Russell Fry remains House nominee while seeking Senate - Stage: General election; linked to Senate special - Praevoium impact: Critical - Candidates: Russell Fry (R); John Vincent (D) - Polling: No verified independent p

# Research Gaps and Refresh Rules 1. Refresh the Republican Senate field, endorsements and polling daily through August 11. 2. If no candidate receives a majority, change the contest to an August 25 runoff and archive eliminated candidates. 3. Track whether Ralph Norman or Russell Fry withdraws from, wins, or vacates a House contest. 4. Replace the provisional SC-06 opposition field with the final certified ballot list. 5. Refresh statewide and House polling only when pollster, sponsor, field dates, sample, population and methodology are available. 6. Update candidate posture only with direct statements, votes, sponsored legislation or documented project positions. 7. Monitor S.867, S.902, S.724 and H.5484 for amendments, passage, veto or carryover status. 8. Retain **Unverified** rather than inferring positions from party affiliation.