Though Democrats didn’t walk away with a win in Tuesday’s 5th district congressional race they came extremely close, and that’ something to talk about.
According to the South Carolina Election Commission final results have the Republican candidate and former South Carolina House Representative, Ralph Norman, securing a narrow victory with 44,889 votes (51%). Democrat and political newcomer, Archie Parnell, ended the night with a surprising 42,053 (48%).
This race marked a stark difference from the 18 point win that Republicans in the district took handily in the 2016 Presidential race, leading many to conclude that the Trump Republican stronghold is weakening as the administration blunders from one national embarrassment to the next.
This race proves to be yet another reminder that the only poll that matters is the one on Election Day. No poll predicted that the 5th district would be called by such a thin margin-less than 3,000 votes. In fact, local publications projected a 10 percentage point loss for Parnell.
You have to think that if the South Carolina 5th had been nationalized in the same manner that the Georgia 6th District Congressional Race and Democratic candidate John Ossoff were perhaps the outcome would have been different.
The Georgia 6th enjoyed generous national media coverage and over 23 million dollars in support, yet Ossoff lost to his Republican opponent, Karen Handel, by 3.8 percentage points in the most expensive House race in history. Perhaps a shift in resources to S.C. would have made an impact, but who knows?
Hopefully the outcome of South Carolina’s election will send a message to the national party that the Palmetto State should be considered a real contender for support and resources–and by resources WE MEAN MONEY! Campaigns are expensive and we tip our hats to Parnell and local and state party leaders for doing more with less. It’s remarkable that in a district gerrymandered to democratic disadvantage they were able to mount a special election effort that ended so competitively.