Second-term South Carolina state representative Nancy Mace is the runaway early leader in a survey of Republican candidates for the Palmetto State’s first congressional district, according to reporter Jamie Lovegrove of The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier.

The survey – conducted by Columbia, S.C.-based First Tuesday Strategies – showed Mace leading all candidates with 19.4 percent support. Mount Pleasant, S.C. town councilwoman Kathy Landing, “Bikers for Trump” founder Chris Cox of Mount Pleasant and Beaufort county councilman Michael Covert each drew the support of roughly three percent of respondents.

Eleven percent of respondents said they supported someone else, while sixty percent indicated they were undecided. The survey – conducted between October 4-7, 2019 – was a random sample of 500 likely voters and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

Take a look …

(Via: FTS Insights)

Our view? Obviously this race remains wide open, but Mace – who has surged to an early lead in fundraising – is the clear frontrunner at the outset of the contest.

Speaking of fundraising, as we noted earlier this month Mace reported raising a whopping $513,000 in three-and-a-half months of campaigning – including $358,000 during the recently concluded third quarter. Entering the fourth quarter, she had $452,000 in the bank.

By contrast, Landing has $309,000 in the bank after raising $45,000 during the recently concluded quarter and loaning herself another $30,000. According to Lovegrove, Landing has “self-funded 80 percent of her campaign.”

Covert raised $39,000 during the recent quarter but spent $55,000, leaving him with only $36,000 in his campaign account.

Cox had yet to file his fundraising totals with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) when this news outlet went to press.

(Click to view)

(Via: File)

Whoever emerges as the eventual GOP nominee in this seat will face an uphill battle against incumbent Democrat Joe Cunningham. Despite the first district’s Republican leanings (U.S. president Donald Trump captured it by thirteen percentage points in 2016), Cunningham is widely perceived as having charted an independent course – a perception capably reinforced by Republican politicians like Henry McMaster and conservative advocacy groups like Americans for Prosperity.

Meanwhile, state and national Republicans who claim this seat is their top takeover target have made a mess of things within the district.

Cunningham brought in an impressive $529,000 during the third quarter of 2019, according to his latest filing. He has $1.3 million in the bank and has raised $1.9 million so far this election cycle.

-FITSNews

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