By Skylar Laird | Reporter
This was another busy week. Candidates started filing to run for the U.S. Senate. State legislators passed a budget deal after weeks of an impasse. And I watched seven middle schoolers compete to see who knows the most about civics. Read more below.
“We must start our process where democracy must still be fought for in the full view of the nation, where our coalitions can be tested, strengthened, and made real.” - Donna Brazile, a national Democratic consultant, recommending South Carolina hold the first presidential primary in 2028.
The White House on June 11, 2026. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
By Sam Gauntt in D.C.
South Carolina is expected to again hold the nation’s first presidential election in 2028. The decision from a national Democratic committee, which still needs full party approval, will mark the second presidential cycle in a row the Palmetto State will go first, though New Hampshire jumped the line in 2024.
MORE IN ELECTIONS NEWS…
House reading clerk Bubba Cromer shows a framed resolution Tuesday, May 5, 2026, at the Statehouse. (Photo courtesy of Sam Holland/SC House photographer)
By Skylar Laird
For nearly three decades, before his retirement this year, Bubba Cromer has read bills in a smooth-as-butter voice from the dais while entertaining legislators with his pranks. He gave legislators silly nicknames, brought in snacks before long budget debates and was always the first to reach out to newly elected representatives. He was a representative himself for eight years, has directed two movies and runs a nonprofit bringing supplies to the homeless.
MORE FROM THE STATEHOUSE…
A woman who pleaded guilty to threatening U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, pictured in Newberry, SC, was sentenced to federal prison. (Photo by Mark Susko/Special to the SC Daily Gazette)
By Skylar Laird
Two people were sentenced this week in separate cases involving threats to U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace. An Indiana woman who pleaded guilty to sending threats to Mace’s campaign email and phone number will spend 27 months in prison, and a transgender Greenville resident will spend 30 months on house arrest for making a threatening post on social media.
MORE IN COURT NEWS…
5 plead guilty in SC prison bribery case | By Skylar Laird
OTHER NEWS FROM THIS WEEK...
14-year-old Greenville girl becomes SC’s first civics bee champion | By Skylar Laird
Details released for Lindsey Graham memorial services in DC and SC | By Seanna Adcox
IN COMMENTARY THIS WEEK...
‘E pluribus unum’ is not a slogan. It’s a choice. | By Tim Storey, CEO of the National Conference of State Legislatures, and Sue Urahn, CEO of The Pew Charitable Trusts
After 1776, the founders designed a government that accounts for ‘a degree of depravity in mankind’ | By Donovan Fifield, history instructor at the University of South Carolina
The slippery path: SC Legislature echoes Congress’ failures with budget impasse | By Patrick Kelly, teachers’ advocate for Palmetto State Teachers Association
MORE FROM OUR AFFILIATES...
GOP govs join Trump pledge designed to shield ratepayers from data center costs | By Amelia Twyman, D.C.
US Senate Judiciary holds over vote on Blanche nomination for AG as Grassley slams Dems | By Ashley Murray, D.C.
Number of women seeking a governor’s seat hits an all-time high | By Amelia Twyman, D.C.
What would it take to end child marriage? There’s a new federal push to limit it. | From The 19th News
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