By admin 
Jermaine Johnson is never going to raise as much money as Alan Wilson. It’s a fact of life for any Democratic nominee for governor in South Carolina.
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Or any statewide Democratic candidate running against a Republican in South Carolina.
But Johnson’s campaign finances, however, can be measured against other Democratic nominees in previous cycles. He has not raised as much money as then state Sen. Vincent Sheheen in 2010, then state Rep. James Smith in 2018 or former U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham in 2022, who all had competitive primaries ahead of them winning their nominations.
From June 9, the day Johnson won the nomination outright, without the need for a runoff through June 30, Johnson raised $165,000, according to state Ethics Commission records.
Sheheen, Smith and Cunningham each raised more than $200,000 in a similar time frame.
Johnson, who received lots of small dollar donations, had more contributors in the time period between his primary day and the end of the second quarter compared to when Cunningham, Sheheen and Smith were the party nominees.
“I think that says first of all, there’s huge appetite out there,” said Sam Skardon, Johnson’s running mate. “There’s huge potential to raise more, and I also think to your point, the Republicans have always been the big money candidates in this state. We don’t need to be the biggest money candidate. We don’t need to have all the special interest money, all the PAC money, all the corporate money coming into our campaign. We need enough to be competitive and make sure people know our message. And we have a better message.”
Johnson isn’t worried about the fundraising disparity compared to previous Democratic nominees for governor.
“If you look at the primary, I raised enough to get almost 60% of the vote, so that right there, it should let people know and understand that we’re not out here to be the richest and the most wealthy individuals that are out here. We’re out here to get our message out and to talk to the people and meet the people where they are and to do what we have to do to inspire people,” Johnson said.
Johnson added he’s also can rely on word of mouth to promote his bid.
“It’s the hope. It’s the vision. It’s somebody that’s different. It’s somebody that is speaking to their issues. That message. You can’t buy that. You can’t buy people being inspired. Like, you can’t purchase that type of a movement,” Johnson said in an interview.
Johnson lacked the resources Billy Webster and Mullins McLeod brought to the race. Webster was a late entrant who could self-fund his campaign, while also receiving financial support from deep pocketed donors such as former U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle who now lives in the Lowcountry, former state senator and high-profile attorney Dick Harpootlian, Spartanburg businessman John McBride, Charleston businessman Phil Noble and Rachel Hodges, the wife of former Gov. Jim Hodges.
Those names, as well as Webster, did not appear on Johnson’s fundraising report from after the primary.
In the weeks leading up to filing for the primary, Johnson was pushed to leave the race because he struggled to bring large chunks of cash to his campaign, a feat that usually requires calling deep-pocketed donors to convince them to contribute.
The best time to raise cash would have been right after winning the nomination in convincing fashion while the iron was hot.
“I think Jermaine has slowly done better in terms of raising money,” said Jay Parmley, the executive director of the South Carolina Democratic Party. “I also think you have to realize that Democratic candidates for statewide offices just don’t raise or never going to outraise the Republicans.”
After the primary, Parmley said Johnson still has to introduce himself to donors both in South Carolina and outside the state.
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“I think he’s really stepped up his game,” Parmley said. “It’s a big difference from moving from the primary to the general, and I think it takes time and focus, and he’s doing that.”
‘Not going to compete dollar for dollar’
All the Democratic nominees for South Carolina’s statewide elected offices on the ballot this year trailed in cash on hand behind their Republican opponents at the end of the second quarter of this year. The Democratic Party leadership acknowledge Republicans have a better fundraising machine in South Carolina that allows the GOP to bring in more money than Democrats.
“All of our candidates are working at it. I think it is difficult. I think before the primary, it was difficult for those that didn’t even have a primary, right?” Parmley said. “I mean, it’s kind of hard to get donors to start moving. But now that it’s focused a little more on you know on the general, I think the money is getting better for each of those each of those individuals.”
“We’re not going to compete dollar for dollar. But we also don’t need to. We don’t need to compete dollar for dollar. We gotta outwork them, and I think there’s a lot of things right now in the sort of political time that it gives us a lot of hope,” Parmley said.
Still the party’s highest profile candidates will have to raise money that could help the entire ticket.
Dr. Annie Andrews, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, will be in a key race. Because she’s running for that seat, she will more likely to receive money from outside the state.
Andrews raised $200,000 the first day after winning the nomination. Also, at the time, she was running against U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham.
Andrews, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, said she is focusing on reaching voters outside the party’s typical base.
“Sort of all the candidates, are relying on each other in the state party to continue to engage with the Democratic base voters, even the low propensity voters who we know if they show up they’ll vote for the Democrat, but they don’t always show up,” Andrews said. “So that’s sort of the role of the party at this point, and then the combined slate of candidates.”
Money raised by the top two candidates will help with a coordinated campaign with the party. Andrews, Johnson and U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn will try to pitch in to help raise money for the party.
“They’re not often giving money directly. Sometimes they do, but it’s everybody kind of working on different pots of money and from different donors to make sure that you know everything gets funded,” Parmley said.
The party is responsible for outreach to voters through phone calls, door knocking and other field organizing to make sure its base shows up to the polls.
“Their responsibility is to raise enough to get themselves competitive,” Parmley said. “Plus, also make sure that we have the shared resources we need to do the groundwork and to do the hard work, and both are doing that.”
Johnson said he also has built up a campaign infrastructure separate from the party’s apparatus. He has volunteer captains in each county.
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“Our infrastructure is large, and I’m proud of it,” Johnson said.
Reporter Lucy Valeski contributed to this article.