Here’s who will challenge Republican Ralph Norman for SC’s 5th Congressional District seat
Three candidates have filed to run against U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman in November’s election, and one is from the York County area.
Two Democrats — Kevin Eckert and Evangeline Hundley — filed to challenge Norman, who has represented the state’s 5th Congressional District since 2017. Filing for partisan races in 2022 closed Wednesday.
Eckert, from Sumter, and Hundley, from Rock Hill, will face off in the state’s June primary. The winner will go on to run against Norman, a Republican, in November.
Norman also will face competition from Larry Gaither, who has filed as a member of the Green Party. Gaither is from Winnsboro, S.C.
Norman, from Rock Hill, succeeded then-U.S. Rep. Mick Mulvaney. Norman won in a special election after Mulvaney joined former President Donald Trump’s administration.
Earlier this year, South Carolina’s congressional districts lines were redrawn as part of the once-a-decade redistricting process. The 5th District, which largely maintained the same boundaries as the previous map, includes York, Lancaster, Chester, Cherokee, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lee, Union counties, and parts of Spartanburg and Sumter counties.
Norman didn’t waste any time kicking off his reelection campaign. In August, he started by holding a fundraising event at Winthrop University with Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan.
In 2020, Norman ran against first-time candidate Moe Brown, a former University of South Carolina football player.
During the campaign, Brown landed key Democratic endorsements from U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn and former presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg. Norman won reelection by about 20 percentage points.
This story was originally published March 31, 2022 at 8:41 AM with the headline "Here’s who will challenge Republican Ralph Norman for SC’s 5th Congressional District seat."
