COLUMBIA, S.C. — It's Election Day.
And already more than 1 million South Carolina voters have cast an early ballot, between the state’s in-person two weeks of early voting and absentee.
Overwhelmingly, voters named the economy and a need for change as two top reasons driving them to the polls to vote for a handful of races — from the competitive U.S. Senate race, to contests for statewide constitutional offices and Congress, all the way down to state House and local seats.
South Carolina Public Radio reporters dotted the state in the weeks leading up to the midterm election, speaking with voters about their preferred choice of candidate and why this election is important to them.
"I call this a movement," said 20-year-old Tymaine Holt, a junior at Claflin University, a historically Black college in Orangeburg, who spoke with Luis-Alfredo Garcia.
At the core of Holt's ballot box decisions he said is a want for change.
It's "a movement making sure that my peers know what’s ahead and what’s at stake come Nov. 3," he added.
The hallmark race for South Carolina this year is the surprisingly tight Senate contest between Republican Sen. Darline Graham and Democrat Dr. Annie Andrews — a seat that was opened by the sudden death in July of Graham’s older brother, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham.
Charles Sohm, who did not vote in the June primary, told Gavin Jackson last month he was leaning toward casting his ballot for Graham to help keep the legacy, he said, of conservative values, in the state.
"I would rather South Carolina hold the line, stick to traditional family values," he said.
In York County, Rich and Mona Rice told Scott Morgan they will vote for Andrews, saying it’s time for a new path.
"And I've told my son and my granddaughters, this election this year in this country is the most important election of my lifetime, your lifetime, my granddaughters' lifetime. That's how important this is," Rich Rice said.
The Senate race is also top of mind for Jessenia McClure, a military spouse originally from San Diego, California, who spoke with Kristina Thacker at the State Fair in Columbia last month.
"It’s something that I kind of grappled with as a military spouse, because we move so often, it almost feels like wrong to go out and vote for things in state elections, especially because I’m not from here and maybe I don’t understand the culture of this state," she said. "But while we’re here, and who knows how long we will be here, I wanted to vote for a party that reflects what I think is right for the country, for the state."
Voters are also keyed in on the governor’s race, between Republican Attorney General Alan Wilson and Democratic state Rep. Jermaine Johnson, who is hoping to flip the seat that hasn’t been held by a Democrat since Jim Hodges in 1998.
The winner will succeed Republican Gov. Henry McMaster, South Carolina’s longest-serving governor.
And then this cycle there’s the 1st Congressional District race on the coast that will decide who follows outgoing Congresswoman Nancy Mace.
That race, also competitive and which could have down-ballot impacts, is set between Republican Jenny Honeycutt and Democrat Nancy Lacore.
Though particular races are drawing South Carolinians to the voting booth on Tuesday, it's under the umbrella of important issues they say must be addressed by whoever wins office.
"We need to do better for the homeless, our veterans and health care," Lugoff’s Pamela Aguilar, who voted for the Democratic ticket, told Reagan Knight.
At the end of the day, voters told South Carolina Public Radio over and over that the economy was a big factor in their vote.
"I think everybody's kind of suffering in that, when it comes to groceries, gas, everything really," Republican voter Sandra Copelar told Jackson in the Upstate. "The cost of living is going up. Insurance is going up. All of this stuff is going up, and it needs to be coming down."
Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.
SCETV and South Carolina Public Radio’s live election coverage will start at 8 p.m.
Reporters Luis-Garcia Alfredo, Gavin Jackson, Reagan Knight, Scott Morgan and Kristina Thacker contributed to this report.
