Republican squeaks out win in South Carolina

Republican Ralph Norman eked out a surprisingly close contest in South Carolina’s special congressional election Tuesday. He defeated Democrat Archie Parnell by fewer than 3,000 votes in the historically conservative 5th District, which was left without a representative when President Donald Trump appointed Mick Mulvaney as head of the Office of Management and Budget. Norman, a millionaire and former real estate developer, aligned himself with Trump on the campaign trail but failed to garner the same level of support. Trump won the district in November by more than 18 points. The race also failed to generate the same national media attention as Tuesday’s other special election, which broke the record for the most expensive House race in U.S. history. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) invested only $275,000 to boost Parnell, compared to the $5 million it spent in Georgia. South Carolina turned out to be the closer contest, but Democrats aren’t ready to concede they made the wrong investment: “This is a deep red seat, that aside, Archie ran hard, embraced the grassroots enthusiasm, and made huge gains compared to past Democrats who competed here,” said DCCC Chairman Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M. “It’s clear that Democrats continue to have the momentum heading into 2018.”

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