South Carolina Elections, 2006 - Governor

Governor

Republican primary

• Mark Sanford - incumbent Governor, former realtor and U.S. Representative
• Oscar Lovelace - physician

Lovelace's candidacy was largely quixotic, although it did garner some interest from disaffected Republicans and Democrats. The Prosperity doctor emphasized working across party lines, health care reform, opposition to school vouchers and job creation. Sanford largely ignored Lovelace's campaign, even refusing to attend an South Carolina Educational Television (SCETV) debate with his opponent. Although Lovelace made a stronger than expected showing in the primary, his loss was not surprising.

Democratic primary

• Tommy Moore - State Senator from Aiken County and businessman
• Frank Willis - mayor of Florence
• C. Dennis Aughtry - attorney
• Kenneth Lamar Holland (withdrew) - former U.S. Representative

Moore obtained the support of much of the state party months in advance, having declared his candidacy early. Moore ran on a platform that stressed his experience in state government and support for consensus-building politics. Willis largely self-financed his campaign, highlighting his history fighting crime in Florence and bringing economic development to the PeeDee. Aughtry was a late entrant in the race, and based almost his entire campaign off the idea of legalizing casino gambling in the state to boost revenues. Holland briefly entered the race, but left when it became apparent he could not raise enough money to be an effective candidate. His name was not on the primary ballot. Moore won with an absolute majority, avoiding a run-off.

General Election

Before the general election campaign, major issues in the race were expected to likely be South Carolina's property tax, cigarette tax, and school vouchers. However, the race had surprisingly low visibility, with the only major issue being the governor's combative relationship with the legislature. Job creation and public school investment were minor issues in the campaign. Despite being named one of the worst Governors in the country by Time Magazine a year before the election and generally being seen as ineffective, Sanford defeated Moore in the general election by ten points.

State Senator Jake Knotts considered mounting an independent candidacy for governor, and collected enough petition signatures to theoretically qualify for the ballot, but decided not to run.