South Carolina: who should earn your vote for Congress in 2026

Opinion · The paper’s scorecard

South Carolina: every race for Congress on the 3 November 2026 ballot, and how the candidates measure up against our standards.

Sitting and former members are scored on the same key votes, read from the official House and Senate roll calls; each vote links to the record. Candidates who have never served in Congress have no votes to score, and outside the battlegrounds we have not researched them, so they are marked as not scored. Where only one candidate could be measured, the mark rates that record on its own; it is not a verdict on the opponent. How the marks work · All states

U.S. Senate R+8

Closer to our standards: Annie Andrews

A battleground: read our full case, with every source.

District 1 R+6

No mark

Nancy Mace (R): incumbent retiring to run for governor.

Jenny Costa Honeycutt

Republican

No congressional voting record; not scored

Nancy Lacore

Democrat

No congressional voting record; not scored

District 2 R+7

No mark

Zyon Khalifa

Democrat

No congressional voting record; not scored

Joe Wilson

Republican · incumbent

Scored on 27 key votes · total +0

✓Smaller government
~Small business over giants
✗Live and let live
✓Light touch on tech
✗Free speech
✗No surveillance state
✗Home first, open trade
~Checks on power
✓Right to bear arms
✓Hard on violent crime

With us (15)

Voted for the Limit, Save, Grow Act tying the 2023 debt-limit increase to spending cuts. Source
Voted for the 2025 package cancelling about $9 billion in approved spending. Source
Voted for a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution. Source

Against us (12)

Voted against the 2022 antitrust package funding merger enforcement with fees on the largest deals. Source
Voted against the Respect for Marriage Act. Source
Voted for the 2024 law forcing TikTok's sale or ban. Source

District 3 R+21

Leans our way: Sheri Biggs

Leans our way

Sheri Biggs

Republican · incumbent

Scored on 11 key votes · total +1

✓Smaller government
✓Small business over giants
?Live and let live
✓Light touch on tech
?Free speech
✗No surveillance state
✗Home first, open trade
✗Checks on power
?Right to bear arms
✓Hard on violent crime

With us (6)

Voted for the 2025 package cancelling about $9 billion in approved spending. Source
Voted for a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution. Source
Voted for the Small Business Regulatory Reduction Act. Source

Against us (5)

Voted for a further clean extension of FISA surveillance authorities in 2026. Source
Voted against ending the emergency behind the tariffs on Canada. Source
Voted against the September 2026 resolution directing U.S. forces out of hostilities with Iran. Source

Eunice Lehmacher

Democrat

No congressional voting record; not scored

District 4 R+11

✓ Meets our standards: William Timmons

Courtney McClain

Democrat

No congressional voting record; not scored

Meets our standards

William Timmons

Republican · incumbent

Scored on 27 key votes · total +2

✓Smaller government
~Small business over giants
✗Live and let live
✓Light touch on tech
✗Free speech
✓No surveillance state
✗Home first, open trade
~Checks on power
✓Right to bear arms
✓Hard on violent crime

With us (17)

Voted for the Limit, Save, Grow Act tying the 2023 debt-limit increase to spending cuts. Source
Voted for the 2025 package cancelling about $9 billion in approved spending. Source
Voted for a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution. Source

Against us (10)

Voted against the 2022 antitrust package funding merger enforcement with fees on the largest deals. Source
Voted against the Respect for Marriage Act. Source
Voted for the 2024 law forcing TikTok's sale or ban. Source

District 5 R+11

No mark

Ralph Norman (R): incumbent retiring to run for governor.

Wes Climer

Republican

No congressional voting record; not scored

Mallory Dittmer

Democrat

No congressional voting record; not scored

District 6 D+13

No mark

Jim Clyburn

Democrat · incumbent

Scored on 27 key votes · total -2

✗Smaller government
~Small business over giants
✓Live and let live
✗Light touch on tech
✓Free speech
✗No surveillance state
✓Home first, open trade
~Checks on power
✗Right to bear arms
✗Hard on violent crime

With us (10)

Voted for the 2022 antitrust package funding merger enforcement with fees on the largest deals. Source
Voted for the Respect for Marriage Act. Source
Voted against the 2024 law forcing TikTok's sale or ban. Source

Against us (17)

Voted against the Limit, Save, Grow Act tying the 2023 debt-limit increase to spending cuts. Source
Voted against the 2025 package cancelling about $9 billion in approved spending. Source
Voted against a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution. Source

John Peterson

Republican

No congressional voting record; not scored

District 7 R+12

✓ Meets our standards: Russell Fry

Meets our standards

Russell Fry

Republican · incumbent

Scored on 21 key votes · total +5

✓Smaller government
✓Small business over giants
?Live and let live
✓Light touch on tech
✗Free speech
✓No surveillance state
✗Home first, open trade
✓Checks on power
✓Right to bear arms
✓Hard on violent crime

With us (14)

Voted for the Limit, Save, Grow Act tying the 2023 debt-limit increase to spending cuts. Source
Voted for the 2025 package cancelling about $9 billion in approved spending. Source
Voted for a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution. Source

Against us (7)

Voted for the 2024 law forcing TikTok's sale or ban. Source
Voted for the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which civil-liberties groups opposed as a limit on campus speech. Source
Voted for a further clean extension of FISA surveillance authorities in 2026. Source

John Vincent

Democrat

No congressional voting record; not scored

Photo credits. Official congressional portraits are works of the U.S. government and in the public domain.