South Carolina Republicans are choosing their GOP Nominees under rules that make it unusually easy for non‑Republicans and “hidden” Democrats to help decide who carries the GOP label. That should worry anyone who wants a coherent, conservative party that accurately reflects the values of South Carolina Republican voters.
South Carolina is an Open Primary State: How it works
In South Carolina, voters are unable to select party affiliation when they register to vote, so every voter, whether they personally consider themselves Republican, Democrat, or Independent, is officially considered unaffiliated. Any SC voter can then show up and choose to vote a ballot in either party’s primary. If no candidate in either primary gets over 50% of the vote, there is a run-off two weeks later. Any voter who cast a ballot in the Republican primary may vote only in the Republican run-off. Any voter who voted in the Democrat primary, may vote only in the Democratic run-off. Voters who did not vote in either initial primary can choose the run-off of the party of their choice.
In a state as Republican as South Carolina, that makes the GOP primary the de facto general election in much of South Carolina—while leaving the door wide open for non‑Republicans to walk in and shape that election.
Should this matter? In today’s America, where Democrats are becoming more ruthless by the day, the following short video explains why it should matter:
There is currently an aggressive move on the part of the SCGOP and many of our Republican lawmakers to close our state primaries. Your Saluda County Republican Party is taking an active role in working to shape this legislation.
Options: The Different types of Primaries in US States
Closed Primary:
Only voters formally registered with the party may vote in that party’s primary. Independents, unaffiliated voters, and members of other parties are excluded.
Semi‑Closed (or “Open to Unaffiliated”):
Registered party members are locked into their own party’s primary, but unaffiliated voters can choose which party’s primary to vote in. Democrats cannot vote in the Republican primary, and vice versa, but independents can.
Open Primary:
Any registered voter may choose which party’s primary to vote in on primary day, regardless of any party registration. South Carolina effectively operates here because it has no party registration at all.
Jungle Primary:
All candidates, regardless of party, appear on one primary ballot; the top finishers (sometimes 2, sometimes 4) advance to the general election. Formally partisan nominations are replaced by a single, nonpartisan first round.
For SC Republicans, a Jungle Primary model is not under consideration. The real choice is between Open, Closed, and Semi-Closed.
From a Conservative Republican Point of view: Which Primary Model is Better?
The main advantage of closed primaries for conservative Republicans is greater control: only registered Republicans choose the GOP nominee, which sharply limits non‑Republican influence and makes it more likely the nominee reflects conservative party voters rather than Democrats, independents, or “hidden partisans” crossing over from the weaker party.
There were two major bills under consideration before a Judiciary Subcommittee of SC House this week. One, H.3310, supported by a large number of Freedom Caucus members, called for Closed Primaries. The other, H.3643, which had majority support from the SCGOP, called for Semi-Closed Primaries. H.3643 went one step further, by also placing stricter qualification standards for any candidate who wants to appear on the Republican Ballot. Since the Republicans who spoke before that committee could not agree on which bill to support, both bills failed to advance.
This article, focuses on primary voting only.
Why SC Republicans should worry about their Open Primaries
All things considered, three big reasons emerge:
1. The GOP primary is the real election in much of SC
In many legislative, congressional, and local races, the Republican primary winner is effectively guaranteed to win in November. That makes the GOP primary the only meaningful choice point—and under an open system, that decisive election is open to every voter, regardless of whether they share Republican values.
2. The rules invite hidden and overt crossover
Matthew P. Thornburg, an Associate Professor of Government, Law, and National Security at Misericordia University in Pennsylvania, was actually on the faculty of USC-Aiken, when he published the results of a major study, “The Dynamics of Hidden Partisanship and Crossover Voting in Semi‑Closed Primaries.” Thornburg’s theory and evidence show that in semi‑closed systems, voters whose party is weak sometimes intentionally and strategically choose to remain unaffiliated so that they can cross over into the dominant party’s primary.
But South Carolina’s totally open system there is no need to hide at all: there is no party registration, so there is no barrier to Democrats and progressive activists picking a Republican ballot in any cycle where it serves their goals.
In other words, South Carolina has all the conditions under which instrumental crossover voting is most tempting, with even fewer constraints than the semi‑closed systems, as shown by the Thornburg study.
3. Republicans cannot assume party platform support by their candidates
Since anyone can vote in the GOP primary, The Republican Party cannot clearly say “our nominees reflect Republican voters,” because non‑Republicans may have been decisive in close races. The Party has weaker leverage to keep candidates aligned with the platform-candidates can aim their appeals at a more fluid, less reliably conservative electorate.
An oft-heard complaint is that South Carolina is the least red of all the US red states. Our Republican-majority SC General Assembly frequently fails to pass legislation that is supported by huge majorities of Republican voters. Our open primaries risk repeated situations where a candidate who looks fine to a mixed primary electorate is a poor fit for the long‑term, desired direction of the party.
Democrats’ Bold Strategy Could Upend GOP Primaries
What a Better system for conservatives would look like
If the objective is to ensure that Republican nominees are chosen primarily by Republicans who actually share the party’s principles, South Carolina Republicans have strong reasons to move away from fully open primaries to Closed Primaries
Semi‑Closed Primaries, as espoused by H.3643, may look like a compromise—Democrats out, Independents in—but the Thornburg research suggests it actually channels strategic Democrats into unaffiliated status, giving them a clean legal path into GOP primaries in safe‑R territory.
With Closed Primaries the electorate is dominated by people who have at least taken the step to officially align with the party. Closed Primaries produce nominees who more clearly reflect the party’s grassroots and platform.
The Takeaway
The South Carolina GOP and each one of its county organizations work extremely hard to elect strong Republicans. They deserve better than South Carolina’s Open Primary system. Most Republicans do not really understand how their party works, and that the structure of The Party reaches way down into the counties into individual precincts. This is where grassroots voters live.
Closing our primaries is one of the best ways to make sure the values of our grassroots Republicans are accurately reflected by the candidates who carry the Republican banner into our General Elections.
