BIG LEAD FOR GOP CANDIDATE
“Republican” Ralph Norman – a former state lawmaker and wealthy developer – is cruising over his Democratic opponent in the special election for South Carolina’s fifth congressional district.
That’s according to a new poll released this week by Rampart PAC, which bills itself as “fighting to preserve America’s freedom by supporting candidates who will support traditional Judeo-Christian values, demand a less intrusive government, and vigorously defend our religious liberty.”
According to Rampart’s survey, Norman leads “Democrat” Archie Parnell by a whopping 53-36 percent margin – which is consistent with the double-digit thrashing former U.S. Rep. Mick Mulvaney put on his well-funded Democratic opponent Fran Person last November.
Like we said earlier this month … we don’t see any way Democrats “Flip the Fifth,” a GOP-leaning district that saw a major rightward shift during the 2016 election.
“Parnell’s values are radically to the left of our values here in South Carolina,” Norman spokesman R.J. May III told us. “We will continue to run an aggressive campaign that takes our message directly to the voters.”
Norman’s campaign will have help in its efforts, too.
“The fifth district is majority red, but Republicans are not going to take this race for granted,” one GOP strategist told us. “The party and the Norman campaign are gonna work hand in hand to do what it takes to expose Parnell as the liberal he is and roll it up on Election Day.”
Mulvaney vacated the fifth district seat back in February after the U.S. Senate confirmed him as the next director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
Parnell won the Democratic nomination on May 2, while Norman narrowly edged S.C. speaker pro tempore Tommy Pope in a “Republican” runoff election on May 16.
Several other candidates are running for the seat – including David Kulma of the Green Party and Victor Kocher of the Libertarian Party.
One of these third party candidates – Josh Thornton of the American Party – ran a guest column on our website earlier this week outlining his reasons for seeking the seat. We hope to extend that invitation to all of the candidates for this special election in the days to come.
Developing …
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If the special election for South Carolina's fifth congressional district were held today, I would vote for ...
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