Last year’s round of redistricting didn’t produce much in the way of competition in racially polarized South Carolina, where Republicans outnumber Democrats in the congressional delegation 6-1. But the state still packs in plenty of drama, with enough backstabbing and salacious scandals to warrant its own soap opera. As the cycle heats up, three of its most aberrant Republican incumbents find themselves in increasing peril as their private lives enter the public sphere.
Reps. Jeff Duncan (SC-03) and William Timmons (SC-04) are both scrambling to confront layered allegations of marital infidelity in a region famed for its focus on family values. Rep. Nancy Mace — an attention-grabbing iconoclast with plenty of prominent enemies — could draw a primary challenge in the Charleston-based 1st District, particularly after her October decision to cast one of eight GOP votes to oust Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the House. And then there’s 83-year-old Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn, whose 6th District is poised to become a family affair if he opts to retire.
Topping it all off is a pending fight over Republican legislators’ decision
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