McMaster makes final election push in Rock Hill, predicts ‘red wave’ on Election Day
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster hit the road Tuesday to connect with Rock Hill voters in the final stretch before Nov. 8.
Outside the city’s Ebenezer Grill, McMaster and his Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette kicked off a 19-stop bus tour that’ll take them across South Carolina ahead of the election. McMaster, who was elected in 2017 after Nikki Haley stepped down to join former President Donald Trump’s administration, is seeking his second full term in office.
As McMaster and Evette stepped off the red bus, they were greeted by cheers from dozens of supporters and chants of, “Four more years!” The restaurant’s famous hot dog sign was behind them.
Throughout the hour-long event, McMaster and a handful of York County Republicans insisted conservatives will not only come out on top next week in South Carolina but also across the country.
“Change is coming,” McMaster said. “It is coming. We’re going to have a red wave. People are looking at what we did here in South Carolina.”
The crowd cheered.
And despite the duo’s confidence, Evette encouraged South Carolinians to make it to the polls.
“We want to see South Carolina move forward with a great red wave like we’re going to see across the rest of this great nation,” Evette said. “Take 10 friends whether it’s today or on Nov. 8. The only thing that can beat us is complacency, and we do not want that. The governor likes to say, ‘There’s no redos on Nov. 9.’”
York County Republicans show support
Dozens of area Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, Sen. Wes Climer, and Reps. Tommy Pope, Bruce Bryant, Randy Ligon, Raye Felder, and former House Majority Leader Gary Simrill, attended McMaster’s Rock Hill event. York County Sheriff Kevin Tolson also attended the event.
“We just use common sense,” McMaster said. “We’ve got a team. Everybody you see here, we talk to each other. We get ideas from each other. We work with each other. And we think the same way — not everything exactly the same but all in the same direction. And every bit of it is based on the Constitution of the United States.”
“If you’ve got the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bible, you don’t need any more books,” McMaster continued.
During his speech, McMaster touted economic growth, teacher pay raises and tax cut legislation. He also emphasized that under his leadership, South Carolina had fewer restrictions in place during the pandemic than states with Democratic governors.
McMaster lifted the state’s stay-at-home order in May 2020. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper kept the state’s modified stay-at-home order in place until February 2021.
“Of course we did not close down because common sense said we didn’t need to,” he said.
The crowd clapped.
“I remind you that every Democratic governor shut down every blue state,” he said. “I think every Democratic mayor did all they could to shut down the cities.”
McMaster paused.
“Not all of them,” he said. He looked at Rock Hill Mayor John Gettys and smiled.
The crowd laughed.
“If we had a Democratic governor in South Carolina, South Carolina would’ve been shut down too,” he said.
McMaster, Cunningham make final push in governor’s race
McMaster and Democratic challenger Joe Cunningham, the race’s primary candidates, are both traveling across South Carolina this week to make their final arguments to local voters. Cunningham, who represented the 1st Congressional District for one term, will stop in Rock Hill on Sunday.
“We never think about the polls,” McMaster told reporters after the event. “We just work hard to tell the people what we stand for and what we’ve done.”
At the end of his Rock Hill event, McMaster encouraged those at the event to go vote.
“We all need your votes,” he said. “We ask for your votes. We thank you and don’t forget to tell the children every chance you get, ‘South Carolina is the best place in the whole world to live, work and raise your family.’”
This story was originally published November 1, 2022 at 2:31 PM.
