Filing for 2026 Elections Begins Today
Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer
Candidates for South Carolina’s 2026 primaries, including Anderson County seats, may begin filing at noon today and have until noon March 30 to put their names on the line. Filing is the quiet threshold of a campaign: until a candidate signs the papers and pays the fee, all the speeches and yard signs are only rehearsal.
The state’s partisan primary filing fees are set at one percent of the total salary for the full term of the office, with a minimum of $100, and the money helps pay for the primaries themselves. Only candidates seeking a party’s nomination in the primary are required to pay; those who come to the ballot by convention or by petition are spared the charge.
Because fees track salaries, statewide offices sit at the top of the scale. The governor or lieutenant governor, with an annual salary of $106,078, must pay a filing fee of $4,243.12. The Secretary of State, State Treasurer, Attorney General, Comptroller General, State Superintendent of Education and Commissioner of Agriculture each earn $92,007 a year, which produces a filing fee of $3,680.28. The United States Senate race carries the heaviest price of admission at $10,440 for its $174,000 salary, while a run for the U.S. House comes with a $3,480 fee.
Legislative and prosecutorial posts have their own arithmetic. A candidate for the South Carolina House of Representatives, with a salary of $10,400, pays $208 to get on the ballot. Solicitors across the state’s judicial circuits, whose salaries are $221,925, face an $8,877 fee for the privilege of being listed.
County-level fees vary from place to place and office to office, but one rule holds steady: every State House seat costs $208 to file for, no matter the county. In Anderson County, for example, the filing fee for a probate judge is $4,945.36, while a county council candidate pays $178.60.
The two-week filing window will fix the lineups for the June 9 Republican and Democratic primaries, and third‑party candidates chosen by convention must also file if they hope to appear on the November ballot. Voters will see every statewide constitutional office on that ballot — Governor and Lieutenant Governor (elected together), Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, Comptroller General, State Superintendent of Education and Commissioner of Agriculture. All 124 seats in the South Carolina House of Representatives are also up, while the state Senate, on a different cycle, sits this round out.
The races at the top of the ticket are already drawing a crowd. Five Republicans are running to replace term‑limited Gov. Henry McMaster: Lt. Gov. Pam Evette, state Sen. Josh Kimbrell, U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman and Attorney General Alan Wilson. On the Democratic side, state Rep. Jermaine Johnson and Charleston attorney Mullins McLeod are trying to become the first member of their party elected governor since Jim Hodges in 1998. Three Republicans are vying to succeed Wilson as attorney general — state Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, First Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe and Eighth Circuit Solicitor David Stumbo — each about to discover how long and dear a statewide race can be once filing day has come and gone.
The agriculture commissioner race features a small herd of farmers, four Republicans and one Democrat. The four Republicans are: Clarendon County farmers Cody Simpson, a former Trump administration official, and Jeremy Cannon of Turbeville, both multigenerational farmers; Anderson County Farmer Danny Ford II, son of former Clemson football coach Danny Ford, and Fred West, the Agriculture Department’s director of market development.
DeShawn Blanding of Manning is the first Democrat to run for commissioner of agriculture. Blanding is a 29‑year‑old former policy analyst for the U.S. House Agriculture Committee, and is part of a multigenerational Clarendon County farming family.
In the U.S. Senate race, at least five Democrats and two Republicans have announced plans to challenge U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, who has held the seat since first being elected in 2002.
GOP challengers include Paul Dans (former Trump official and one of the authors of Project 2025), Mark Lynch (appliance repair executive), and Thomas Murphy (retired Navy corpsman). Democratic primary challengers.
The Democratic primary features pediatrician Annie Andrews, Catherine Fleming, logistics pro Kyle Freeman, realtor Christopher Giracello, and ex-congressional nominee Brandon Brown.
Kasie Whitener, who chairs the South Carolina Libertarian Party, is running for the party’s nomination for Senate. The Green Papers and FEC filings also list Jason Elliot Brenkus as a Libertarian U.S. Senate candidate, indicating at least two Libertarians preparing to be on the November ballot via convention rather than the June primaries.
In the U.S. House, Libertarian Brian Corriea is seeking the 3rd Congressional District (which includes Anderson County).
Anderson County residents will vote in the statewide and national races already noted, plus local and legislative contests in the June 9 primaries and November 3 general election.
Anderson County will vote on candidates for House District 4, District 6 (portion of Anderson), and District 10 (portions of Anderson, Greenville, and Pickens).
The county falls primarily in the Republican-held 3rd Congressional District (covering the Piedmont area including Anderson and Greenwood), where incumbent Sheri Biggs is running for reelection.In the U.S. House, Libertarian Brian Corriea is seeking the 3rd Congressional District (which includes Anderson County).
All county council seats will be included in the primary and general election, with all incumbents except for Vice Chairman Brett Sanders of Dist. 4. At least two other seats are expected to be contested, but will not be confirmed until filing begins.
