SC’s Katie Arrington predicts ‘there won’t be a runoff’ in GOP congressional primary
Standing beneath rows of string lights at the Summerville Country Club pavilion, Republican Katie Arrington predicted her electoral fate in one of South Carolina’s most competitive congressional primary contests.
“I promise you this,” Arrington said Thursday night, holding up her index finger as she surveyed the rows of people sitting in white fold-out chairs. “This evening and before the vote, whoever wins on June 14 — and there will not be a run off — we should all get behind that candidate.”
Arrington and Lynz Piper-Loomis are the two GOP candidates challenging U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace for the Republican nomination in South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District.
Arrington did not cite polling or elaborate. Instead, she cracked a smile and encouraged her fellow Republicans to unite behind whoever wins the upcoming GOP primary.
“We know the only way socialism has a chance to succeed is through a divided Republican Party,” Arrington said. “It’s like a family. We can disagree with family in our house, but once we step outside that house we’re unified. That’s the only way we can maintain this seat and hold the line.”
Arrington’s comments and electoral predictions came during a forum hosted by the Dorchester County Republican Party. Piper-Loomis, who also attended, took turns with Arrington answering questions for about 30 minutes.
Mace was unable to attend due to votes in Washington, according to Dorchester County Republican Party Chair Steven Wright.
Reached for comment after the forum, the Mace campaign questioned Arrington’s suggestion that she would easily defeat Mace in the upcoming Republican primary.
“A runoff is unlikely, because Nancy Mace is a fighter who won’t stop working for every last vote to ensure she wins without even coming close to a runoff,” said Mace campaign spokesman Austin McCubbin.
Mace, via statement, touts record
At the top of the forum, Wright read from a written statement provided by the Mace campaign. A few people in the crowd groaned when they heard Mace would not be participating.
“Congresswoman Mace is in D.C. for votes all this week. Yesterday, she passed her 16th bill out of committee, and tonight she is also receiving a legislator of the year award,” Wright said, reading the Mace campaign statement.
The statement continued by touting her political bonafides, citing “an almost perfect score on every conservative report card.” Then, the campaign took two swipes at Arrington without mentioning her by name.
“(Mace is) the only candidate in the primary who can say she’s never voted to raise your taxes. She’s the only candidate in the primary who could beat Joe Cunningham,” the statement said, referring to the Democrat who defeated Arrington in the 2018 election. Mace went on to defeat Cunningham in the 2020 election.
It concluded by letting Republicans know Mace would be in Summerville for another Dorchester County Republican Party event on Saturday.
Approaching primary
The forum came at a pivotal time during the election calendar, with the June 14 Republican primary nearly one month away and in-person absentee voting set to begin Monday.
Piper-Loomis, a North Charleston advocate for military veterans, opened by reminding voters she has been in the race for more than a year, adding that she has also been “in the trenches, fighting the local school board meetings, City Council, County Council for 17 years.”
Arrington, a former state lawmaker who is seen as Mace’s chief rival in the GOP primary match-up, introduced herself to voters as a “Trump-endorsed, America First candidate.”
“But more importantly, I want you to vote for me,” Arrington said.
If no candidate in the three-woman race receives more than 50% of the vote on June 14, the top two vote-getters will advance to a runoff on June 28.
During the forum both Arrington and Piper-Loomis cast doubts about the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Despite Trump’s repeated claims that he was robbed of a second term, there has been no evidence of widespread voter fraud affecting the election’s outcome, nor has there been any evidence to show the election was stolen.
Still, Piper-Loomis falsely said: “President Trump won the race.”
Arrington, in her closing remarks, said she is running because South Carolina voters were “sold a bill of goods” when they elected Mace.
“She said she was going up to Washington to be a conservative, American First, Trump-endorsed candidate and what did she do? She turned on Donald J. Trump and she turned on us,” Arrington said. “She stabbed him in the back when she certified the election. She stabbed him in the back when she blamed him for January 6. I was there. Those weren’t Trump people.”
Opinions on other issues
Arrington and Piper-Loomis were asked whether they would move to impeach President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, should Republicans gain majorities in both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate this year.
Both cited concerns they had about the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the number of illegal immigrants coming through the U.S.-Mexico border as reasons why they would seek to impeach the president and vice president.
Arrington, who at previous forums has said impeaching Biden would be one of her top priorities if elected, further indicated any impeachment would need happen after Biden is on his way out of the White House.
“Here’s the thing, so we’ll get it ready. I’m going to impeach him the day after, you know, Donald Trump is reelected or (Ron) DeSantis is elected in 2024. And we’ll do the same thing. We’ll impeach Joe Biden to make sure he can never run again,” Arrington said.
Piper-Loomis disagreed and said she would proceed with impeaching Biden when elected.
Otherwise, Piper-Loomis and Arrington mostly agreed on a host of issues, like supporting a zero-balanced budget, building the U.S.-Mexico border wall and term-limits.
Afterwards, Piper-Loomis said she understood why Mace couldn’t be at the forum.
“She’s doing exactly what she’s elected to do,” Piper-Loomis said, adding, “That’s her top priority. That’s why she was elected into office, right?”
Arrington did not agree, and took issue with the fact that Mace was also not at the event because she was accepting an award.
This story was originally published May 12, 2022 at 10:51 PM with the headline "SC’s Katie Arrington predicts ‘there won’t be a runoff’ in GOP congressional primary."
