South Carolina Governor’s Race - Any Change in Gambling Sentiment Ahead?
Proponents of bringing more legal, regulated gambling - beyond the lottery - to South Carolina saw mixed results after the Republican and Democratic party primaries were decided.
South Carolina primary election results
Democrat Billy Webster, the only one of nearly a dozen candidates who clearly supported the authorization of what would be the state's first casino, finished a distant second Tuesday to primary winner Jermaine Johnson.
A 60% to 30% trouncing by Johnson over Webster advanced Johnson directly to the November gubernatorial race.
On the Republican side, state Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and Alan Wilson - at 29% and 26%, respectively - moved on in a 5-way race to a June 23 runoff for a chance to become the clear head-to-head favorite for Governor in the very conservative state.
A Trafalgar Group poll taken just days before the election correctly forecasted a 1-2 finish for Evette and Wilson, with vehement casino opponents Ralph Norman and Rom Reddy flipping positions as also-rans in the final voting.
Outgoing two-term Republican Gov. Henry McMaster was adamantly opposed to any expansion of gambling options in The Palmetto State, asserting that such approval likely would gravely harm the most vulnerable of the state's citizens.
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What the Republican rivals say about gambling issues
Evette has expressed similar feelings to McMaster in general, but she also has said she plans to keep an open mind.
"I'm not really for it," she told the SC Daily Gazette earlier this year. "I just think that it's good to let everybody be heard.
"In South Carolina, we definitely don't want to see giant buildings full of gambling machines that attract the worst aspects of society and prey on vulnerable people."
Still, Evette added that if a local community expressed support for a casino in their region, that potentially could impact her opinion.
Historical horse racing - slot machine-like devices popular in southern states such as Kentucky and Arkansas - also is an option Evette said she would consider if it gains significant legislative support.
Evette enjoys the endorsement of McMaster - potentially a key advantage - as well as President Donald J. Trump, who gave his approval in the late stages of the race.
Trump defeated Kamala Harris by nearly 18% in the 2024 Presidential election, and both Evette and Wilson have expressed their support for his agenda.
The Trump Taj Mahal casino opened in Atlantic City, N.J. in 1990 and Trump later launched his Trump Plaza and Trump Castle properties in the same city before exiting the industry more than two decades ago. The President also publicly supported a 1993 federal government option unique to New Jersey that would have allowed Las Vegas-style sports betting in the state.
But support for Trump - while generally a political winner in South Carolina - does not necessarily mean either Republican candidate would actually promote the expansion of any gambling in the state.
Even Webster - whose support for a single casino in the state and which did not appear to do him any favors in the voting - was only willing to consider a casino in a rural, impoverished area as a potential tourism lure and needed economic generator.
Wilson, at the first Republican debate in April, talked about "criminal elements" that he said arrived at other states that have authorized casinos. He added that because technology makes it so difficult to prevent the public from gambling in that manner, he would be willing to consider a plan to add that element in some fashion.
The Democratic candidate's stance on gambling issues
Johnson, the winner in the Democratic primary who has publicly acknowledged that his own father struggled with a gambling addiction that greatly harmed his entire family, nonetheless said he wants the state's residents to play a key role in gambling expansion issues via statewide referendums.
Johnson has added that even if the state's voters decided to approve such new entertainment options, he would lobby for significant funds to be set aside as a result, to help South Carolinians who may prove unable to gamble in a responsible manner.
Whichever of the three finalists is elected, they would be facing a longterm statewide cultural opposition to gambling for both religious and historical reasons.
Back in 1986, a virtually unnoticed amendment to the South Carolina state budget opened the door for more than 30,000 video poker machines to be spread all across the state.
After years of legal battles, the state Supreme Court finally outlawed the machines in 2000. But for many longtime lawmakers, the bitter taste remained - leaving many of them wary of any effort to bring more legal gambling to South Carolina.
