Rice keeps fundraising lead against challengers in SC. Could Trump change the race?
Incumbent Rep. Tom Rice maintained his commanding fundraising edge over a crowded field of Republican challengers looking to unseat him in his Congressional re-election bid, according to federal data published Tuesday.
Rice, from Myrtle Beach, raised $155,000, which is significantly less than previous fundraising periods that total around $400,000. But he still manged to end 2021 with $1.88 million in the bank, the largest of any candidate in the District 7 race.
“The numbers today indicate South Carolinians remain proud of what we’ve delivered to the 7th District during my time in office,” Rice said about his fundraising in a statement. “I am humbled and grateful to all my supporters for helping to demonstrate that honest, effective, leadership is the way to go.”
Rice, who represents eight counties in Northeastern South Carolina, is facing a crowded field of 14 challengers in the Republican primary as he seeks a sixth term.
But the fundraising success comes as one of his opponents, S.C. Rep. Russell Fry, earned the endorsement of former President Donald Trump. Trump has encouraged “good and smart” people to run against Rice, who was one of 10 Republicans who voted in 2021 to impeach him.
He announced Tuesday he would back Fry, a Republican from Surfside Beach, in a move that political observers said will likely change the dynamics of the race.
“Russell Fry, who is all in for the Palmetto State, has my Complete and Total Endorsement. VOTE TOM RICE OUT NOW!” Trump said in a statement.
Fundraising for congressional races is reported each quarter throughout the year. The last tranche of data was released in October and accounted for July-to-September fundraising. The figures published Tuesday account for October through December fundraising. The last set of figures released before voters head to the polls will come out in April.
Impeachment vote means challengers
Rice, who consistently supported Trump during his four years in office, has said he impeached Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. He said Trump violated the constitution that day and needed to be held accountable.
But that vote angered Republicans across the Pee Dee who swiftly censured Rice for his vote against the president. The South Carolina GOP followed suit shortly thereafter, and Rice has said he’s been frozen out of other GOP events since then.
Rice’s challengers have said Horry County and the Pee Dee region need a representative in Congress who supported Trump, both personally and politically.
Donald Smith, campaign manager for Rice challenger Ken Richardson, predicted that Trump’s endorsement of Fry would help him raise funds and approach Rice’s totals.
Fry has raised $351,278 to date, with $126,291 of that total coming in the last three months.
Other candidates have raised significant sums, too. Richardson, the Horry County Board of Education Chairman, has raised $230,915 to date, with $5,507 coming in the last quarter.
Smith told The Sun News on Monday that Richardson didn’t conduct any fundraising over the holidays and has only begun raising money in recent weeks. Smith said Richardson had more than $500,000 in his campaign war chest, some of which is from a loan to the campaign.
“The fundraising the last two weeks has been phenomenal…the pledges are coming in,” Smith said. “We’ve got the strongest war chest of anyone today to fight Tom Rice.”
Richardson said not all Trump supporters are pleased with the Fry endorsement, and he has seen more donations as a result.
“I never made the first phone call for fundraising until Jan. 17,” Richardson said. “I don’t need people to tell me I don’t have any momentum.”
Candidate fundraising totals
Florence-based Dr. Garrett Barton has raised significant funds to date, pulling in $225,417 total with $14,552 of that coming in the past quarter. Christian speaker Barbara Arthur has also seen fundraising success, bringing in $120,583 total, with $14,152 raised in the last three months.
Graham Allen, the conservative media personality, dropped out of the race Friday evening. He had raised the most money in his bid against Rice. His fundraising report showed he raised $89,481 last quarter and ended his bid with $194,018 in the bank. Overall, he raised $827,725.
When Allen announced he was exiting the race, he indicated he had spoken to Trump about the decision and said he would support any candidate Trump endorses. He called for a “unified front” against Rice in the race to unseat him.
Other candidates in the race, including Tom Dunn, Steve Reichert, Jeanette Spurlock and former Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark McBride, have collectively raised more than $82,000, significantly less than the leading fundraisers. McBride raised the most of the group last quarter, pulling in $8,400.
Spurlock’s campaign said fundraising efforts have just started in 2022 with her totals expected to climb. Like Richardson, she said Trump endorsing Fry wouldn’t push her out of the race.
“Let me just promise you one thing,” she said in a Facebook video Tuesday. “Nothing is going to stand in my way to continue this journey to fight for you and fight for future generations.”
Five other Republican candidates are running in the election, though none have filed recent reports with the Federal Election Commission. No Democrats have filed FEC reports to date.
Despite fundraising lead, Rice faces pressure
Though Rice maintains a comfortable lead in terms of fundraising, the fifth-term congressman continues to face pressure at home from residents and other candidates over his impeachment vote.
At a recent town hall event Rice held in Conway, a handful of protesters gathered to voice their displeasure with the congressman, holding signs that read, “Rice hates Trump more than he loves America,” and “Nancy Pelosi’s new best friend: Tom Rice.”
Rice, fielding questions, brushed off the protesters and ribbed those in attendance.
“You know, I stopped on the way in here to talk to the protesters, they had more questions,” he said to laughs. “I tried to give them answers, but they didn’t want to hear the answers. They just wanted to ask questions.”
Protester Kenny Oliver, a Cherry Grove resident, said he was upset that Rice “didn’t back Trump” and had “back-stepped” on his stance about the 2020 presidential election. Rice, prior to Jan. 6, voted not to certify election results from Arizona and Pennsylvania. He has said recently he should have voted differently.
But given the large number of primary challengers, Oliver said he doesn’t have a preferred candidate to replace Rice.
“I’d like to see someone maybe ex-military or somebody that’s a patriot that’s going to stand up for the country and for the people,” he said. “That’s not happening right now.”
With Trump’s endorsement of Fry, the campaign is likely to evolve.
Some campaigns have started ramping up their fundraising, meaning fundraising over the next few months could make all the difference.
“We’re going to win this thing one vote at a time and one mans’ endorsement is not going to win this election,” said Smith, Richardson’s campaign manager. “Big money doesn’t always win, endorsements don’t always win.”
