“This is a great state. We've got it all,” McMaster told supporters at a Columbia restaurant Tuesday night. “Don't consider us as being second to anybody. ...
“We need to raise our hopes, raise our dreams for every South Carolinian,” he said. “The next four years, we're going to have to fight.”
McMaster said he looked forward to working with “our great Gov. Nikki Haley, who has shown what she can do. ... We're going to form a great team; it's going to be an unbeatable team."
With almost all votes counted, McMaster was leading Campbell 2-1.
McMaster finished first in the June 10 GOP primary, taking 44 percent of the more than 300,000 votes cast. Charleston developer Pat McKinney and Campbell finished in second and third place, respectively, each with about 24 percent of the vote. McKinney dropped out of the race before a recount of the two candidates’ votes, sending Campbell to the runoff.
The race demonstrated that “you can run an idea-based race without getting nasty and everybody can conduct themselves as gentlemen — that was kind of refreshing,” Campbell said Tuesday, offering his help to McMaster. “I wish him all the best. This was never about the other individuals in the race. It was deeply personal for me.”
McMaster of Columbia and Democratic state Rep. Bakari Sellers of Bamberg will compete for the office in November’s general election.
