After the dust settled on dozens of Statehouse primary battles between the GOP majority and the renegade House Freedom Caucus, three GOP majority incumbents - including two veteran leaders close to Speaker Murrell Smith - had been ousted.
Meantime, the Freedom Caucus members facing primaries all fought off well-funded mainline opponents to declare victory.
"The establishment set out to crush the conservative movement and the Freedom Caucus, and we came out stronger." Education Vouchers South Carolina-May South Carolina Rep. R.J. May, A West Columbia Republican who is vice chair of the right-wing Freedom Caucus, speaks in favor of an education voucher bill on Wednesday, April 26, 2023, in Columbia, S.C. File/Jeffrey Collins/AP Yet more than a dozen Freedom Caucus challenges to GOP majority incumbents came up well short, and due to retirements and the results of upcoming runoffs June 25, the primaries may only yield the renegade caucus a few more seats.
Even if the June 11 primaries will not change the balance of power much in the House, they do establish that the Freedom Caucus is not a fringe movement or flash in the pan.
Jonathan Butcher, a 41-year-old writer from the suburbs northwest of Columbia, voted on June 11 for state Rep. Jay Kilmartin, a member of the Freedom Caucus from Columbia, over his mainline challenger.
"Incumbents, largely, fared super well." The Freedom Caucus missed most of its targets other than West.
Neal Collins, R-Easley, and Don Chapman, R-Townville, won comfortable victories over robust Freedom Caucus challenges.
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