# 2010 South Carolina gubernatorial election

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The 2010 South Carolina gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 2010. Incumbent Republican Governor Mark Sanford was term limited and unable to seek re-election. Primary elections took place on June 8, 2010, and a runoff election, as was necessary on the Republican side, was held two weeks later on June 22.
Republican Nikki Haley defeated Democrat Vincent Sheheen in the general election by a margin of 4.5%. As of 2023, this is the closest that the Democrats have come to winning the governorship of South Carolina since their last victory in 1998. This is the first open-seat election since 1994. Haley was re-elected in 2014 in a rematch with Sheheen.

## Republican primary

According to CNN, Haley initially entered the gubernatorial primary as a dark horse candidate. In an article covering her surge in the primary in the weeks prior to the election, it was noted that a "surprise" endorsement from former Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin boosted Haley's candidacy. Haley's campaign was backed by TV ads run by ReformSC, an advocacy group funded by allies of outgoing governor Mark Sanford.

### Candidates

* Gresham Barrett, U.S. Congressman
* André Bauer, Lieutenant Governor
* Nikki Haley, State Representative
* Henry McMaster, State Attorney General

### Endorsements
#### Nikki Haley

* Former Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA), former presidential candidate for 2008 Republican nomination
* Former Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK), former Republican vice presidential candidate
* Former First Lady of South Carolina Jenny Sanford
* Republican Liberty Caucus

#### Gresham Barrett

* Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney

#### Henry McMaster

* Former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani (R-NY), former presidential candidate for 2008 Republican Nomination
* Senator John McCain (R-AZ), former candidate for 2008 Presidential Election
* Former Governor David Beasley (R-SC)

#### André Bauer

* Former Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR), former presidential candidate for 2008 Republican nomination

### Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Henry McMaster | Gresham Barrett | André Bauer | Nikki Haley | Other | Undecided |
| Public Policy Polling (report) | June 5–6, 2010 | 998 | ± 3.1% | 16% | 23% | 12% | 43% | -- | 7% |
| Public Policy Polling (report) | May 22–23, 2010 | 638 | ± 3.9% | 18% | 16% | 13% | 39% | -- | 14% |
| Rasmussen Reports (report) | May 17, 2010 | 931 | ± 4.5% | 19% | 17% | 12% | 30% | 3% | 13% |
| Rasmussen Reports (report) | March 3, 2010 | 500 | ± 4.5% | 21% | 14% | 17% | 12% | 9% | 29% |
| InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion Research | December 16, 2009 | 371 | ± 5.1% | 22% | 9% | 22% | 13% | 6% | 28% |

### Runoff

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Nikki Haley | Gresham Barrett | Undecided |
| Public Policy Polling (report) | June 5–6, 2010 | 998 | ± 3.1% | 51% | 35% | 14% |

### Results

Republican primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Nikki Haley | 206,326 | 48.9 |
| | Republican | Gresham Barrett | 91,824 | 21.8 |
| | Republican | Henry McMaster | 71,494 | 16.9 |
| | Republican | André Bauer | 52,607 | 12.4 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 422,251 | 100 |
Republican primary runoff results on June 22 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Nikki Haley | 233,733 | 65.1 |
| | Republican | Gresham Barrett | 125,601 | 34.9 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 359,334 | 100 |

## Democratic primary
### Candidates

* Robert Ford, State Senator from Charleston
* Jim Rex, State Superintendent of Education from Fairfield County
* Vincent Sheheen, State Senator from Camden

### Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Jim Rex | Vincent Sheheen | Robert Ford | Dwight Drake* | Other | Undecided |
| Public Policy Polling (report) | May 22–23, 2010 | 410 | ± 4.8% | 30% | 36% | 11% | -- | -- | 23% |
| Rasmussen Reports (report) | May 17, 2010 | 404 | ± 5.0% | 22% | 30% | 4% | -- | 12% | 32% |
| Rasmussen Reports (report) | March 3, 2010 | 500 | ± 4.5% | 16% | 16% | 12% | 5% | 15% | 37% |
* as of March 5, 2010 Dwight Drake withdrew from the race for Governor.

### Results

Democratic primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Vincent Sheheen | 111,637 | 59.0 |
| | Democratic | Jim Rex | 43,590 | 23.0 |
| | Democratic | Robert Ford | 34,121 | 18.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 189,348 | 100 |

## Other parties

* Morgan Reeves, Businessman, Minister, and retired National Football League player from Irmo
** Dr. Reeves was nominated on March 30 by the United Citizens Party and South Carolina Green Party on April 7 (see SC Election Commission website). Reeves appeared on the November 2nd general election ballot for both parties. An Independent, Dr. Reeves collected enough voter petition signatures to qualify by the July 15th deadline onto a 3rd ballot line.
* Jim Rex, State Superintendent of Education from Fairfield County
** Rex was nominated by the Working Families Party prior to losing the Democratic primary. Rex did not appear on the Working Families ballot line in November due to South Carolina's "sore loser" law that requires candidates not to seek nominations from multiple parties from appearing on the ballot after they lose any one party's nomination (see candidate party pledge forms). Several election law issues are before US appellate court in Richmond, Virginia regarding conformity to the 1965 Voting Rights Act and US Constitutional provisions, see ACLU/Platt v SC

## General election
### Debates

* "First in the State" Republican Gubernatorial Primary Debate
Sponsored by the Republican Parties of Newberry and Laurens Counties Aired on WIS-TV on September 22, 2009 Watch here
* "Spotlight on the Candidates" Joint Gubernatorial Primary Debate
Sponsored by the SC Natural Resources Society Aired on SCETV on November 3, 2009
(This debate marked the first time in state history that gubernatorial primary candidates from both parties participated in the same debate.) Watch here
* SCGOP Gubernatorial Debate
Sponsored by the South Carolina Republican Party Moderated by MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski Aired on WCSC-TV on January 28, 2010 Watch here
* Republican Candidates For South Carolina Governor April Debate: Watch here

### Endorsements

Senator Vincent Sheheen -- South Carolina Chamber of Commerce
Representative Nikki Haley-- National Rifle Association of America
Representative Nikki Haley-- South Citizens for Life

### Predictions

| Source | Ranking | As of |
| Cook Political Report | Lean R | October 14, 2010 |
| Rothenberg | Safe R | October 28, 2010 |
| RealClearPolitics | Lean R | November 1, 2010 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball | Likely R | October 28, 2010 |
| CQ Politics | Lean R | October 28, 2010 |

### Polling

| Poll source | Dates administered | Nikki Haley (R) | Vincent Sheheen (D) |
| Crantford & Associates | October 21, 2010 | 48% | 37% |
| Crantford & Associates | October 18, 2010 | 43% | 41% |
| Winthrop University | October 13, 2010 | 47% | 39% |
| Hamilton Campaigns | October 5, 2010 | 49% | 44% |
| Hamilton Campaigns | October 5, 2010 | 49% | 44% |
| Hamilton Campaigns | October 4, 2010 | 51% | 41% |
| Crantford & Associates | October 2, 2010 | 45% | 41% |
| Rasmussen Reports | September 22, 2010 | 50% | 33% |
| Rasmussen Reports | August 25, 2010 | 52% | 36% |
| Rasmussen Reports | July 29, 2010 | 49% | 35% |
| Rasmussen Reports | June 23, 2010 | 52% | 40% |
| Rasmussen Reports | June 10, 2010 | 55% | 34% |
| Public Policy Polling | May 22–23, 2010 | 44% | 34% |

### Results

South Carolina gubernatorial election, 2010 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Nikki Haley | 690,525 | 51.37% | −3.75% |
| | Democratic | Vincent Sheheen | 630,534 | 46.91% | +2.12% |
| | United Citizens | Morgan B. Reeves | 20,114 | 1.50% | N/A |
| | Write-ins | | 3,025 | 0.23% | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 59,991 | 4.46% | −5.87% |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,344,198 | 50.92% | +6.42% |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Swing | | |

#### Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

* Colleton (largest city: Walterboro)
* Kershaw (Largest city: Camden)
* Florence (Largest city: Florence)
* Charleston (largest city: Charleston)
* Darlington (largest city: Hartsville)

#### Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

* Newberry (Largest city: Newberry)
* Saluda (Largest city: Saluda)
* Edgefield (Largest city: Edgefield)
* McCormick (largest town: McCormick)