COLUMBIA — Three-term state Rep. Jermaine Johnson is officially making a bid for the Governor’s Mansion.
The Richland County Democrat formally announced his candidacy Tuesday evening at the Statehouse.
“South Carolina is a beautiful state filled with resilient, hard-working individuals, but too many of our communities are hurting,” Johnson, who lives in rural Hopkins, said to the crowd of nearly 200 supporters. They included former U.S. Attorney Adair Boroughs and several Democratic members of the Richland legislative delegation.
The state’s roads and bridges are in disrepair in the country. Rural hospitals are closing down, he said.
“But I also believe this, y’all. I believe that tomorrow can be a brighter day, because we the people of South Carolina, we have never been afraid of hard work. We have never backed down from a challenge. We have always moved forward,” Johnson added as the crowd began chanting his name outside the governor’s office.
Originally planned for the Statehouse steps, the event was brought indoors due to the rain.
The 40-year-old father of four is the second Democrat to enter the race, following an announcement by Charleston lawyer Mullins McLeod in August.
McLeod remains in the race despite a high-profile arrest for disorderly conduct near the tip of Charleston’s peninsula in May. After video of his nearly 35-minute rant in the back of a police cruiser became public in August, the state Democratic Party chairwoman asked him to suspend his campaign.
His response was to put $1.35 million of his own money into the race, which makes up 94% of his fundraising as of Sept. 30, according to the latest state Ethics Commission filings.
The winner of the Democratic primary in June will face off against the victor of a five-way GOP contest.
The announced Republicans are Lt. Gov. Pam Evette, state Sen. Josh Kimbrell of Spartanburg County, U.S. House Reps. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman, and Attorney General Alan Wilson.
Johnson has said he recognizes it’s a long shot for any Democrat in a statewide race in South Carolina.
“Now I know the road ahead, it won’t be easy. I know the forces of division are going to try to destroy us. I know the voices of doubt are going to try to sow seeds of discord. But I have this fearless faith,” he said. “This fearless faith is what has propelled me to be in this critical moment in time, one where I don’t shrink or cower to these problems, but I rise with purpose and conviction.”
No Democrat has won the governor’s office since Jim Hodges in 1998. The last Democrat to win any statewide office was Jim Rex in 2006, when he became state superintendent of education by fewer than 500 votes.
Gov. Henry McMaster soundly defeated the last Democrat to seek the job, former U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham, by more than 17 percentage points in 2022.
That victory led to McMaster becoming the longest-serving elected governor in state history, having taken over the second half of former Gov. Nikki Haley’s term in 2017 when she left to become President Donald Trump’s first United Nations ambassador.
McMaster is ineligible to run again in 2026.
A Winthrop Poll released Tuesday puts Mace and Evette in a statistical tie for the lead among likely Republican voters. Norman and Wilson tied for second, with Kimbrell in a distant fifth place. Still, it’s early in the contest and more than 45% of the registered voters responding were undecided.
More than 40% of those surveyed said an endorsement from Trump will be “very important” to them when choosing a candidate. Another 30% called a Trump endorsement “somewhat important.” The poll results reflect the answers of 1,331 registered voters reached Oct. 2-19.
As for Johnson, he first won a seat in the Statehouse in 2020 after ousting in the Democratic primary 22-year veteran Rep. Jimmy Bales, a former Richland County Councilman and longtime principal of Lower Richland High School who oversaw the school’s desegregation.
Two years later, after the post-census redrawing of voting lines put Johnson in the same House district as fellow Hopkins Democrat Wendy Brawley, he ousted her from the seat she’d held since 2017.
That year, Republicans gained a supermajority in the House.
A 2022 settlement over the voting lines required the Legislature to redraw district maps in Richland and Kershaw counties, putting Johnson in a new district that stretches from Lower Richland north to Elgin. Johnson had no opposition for that seat in 2024.
Johnson previously told the SC Daily Gazette he “wholeheartedly plans” to still run for re-election to the state House regardless of his run for governor. South Carolina law allows candidates to seek more than one office at the same time. They just can’t hold multiple offices simultaneously.
On Tuesday, however, Johnson said he will wait until election filings open in mid-March before he makes a final decision.
Johnson, born in Los Angeles, overcame childhood struggles. He lost his brother to gun violence when Johnson was 5 years old. And his family was homeless during Johnson’s teenage years, living in motels.
In 2004, a basketball scholarship brought Johnson to the College of Charleston, where his 1,276 points still rank 21st in program history. He went on to earn a spot in a developmental league for NBA prospects before stints playing professionally in Canada, Portugal, Mexico and Brazil.
After his basketball career, he returned to South Carolina, starting New Economic Beginnings Foundation, a nonprofit aimed to aid troubled children and military veterans.
He’s also the founder of Dream Team Consulting firm and an adjunct professor at Midlands Technical College.
Ahead of his own run for the Statehouse, Johnson was the state campaign chair for Andrew Yang’s 2020 bid for president, which ended ahead of the South Carolina presidential primary.
SC Daily Gazette is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. SC Daily Gazette maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seanna Adcox for questions: info@scdailygazette.com.
