South-Carolina
SC politicians respond to continued shutdown over including subsidies in spending plan
Airports manage staff, flight delays amid government shutdown
Essential works and staff are on duty at airports despite the government shutdown. As the shutdown continues, the risk of flight delays remain.
A temporary spending plan to get the government back up and running continues to stall out in the Senate as the shutdown becomes one of the longest in U.S. history.
South Carolina’s politicians have been active in Washington D.C. and at home advocating for an end to the shutdown. Many of these same politicians are also in the midst of campaigns as the 2026 governor’s race, Senate and congressional elections all approach.
This week’s About Politics takes a look at how South Carolina’s members of Congress are pushing to end a shutdown, new polling numbers ahead of the election, and a key endorsement one House member earned from the president.
New poll on the gubernatorial and Senate races
Quantus Insights, a polling and election forecasting organization, conducted a survey of South Carolina Republican voters ahead of next year’s gubernatorial race. Their poll of 600 registered Republican voters show tight margins between three Republican candidates: Attorney General Alan Wilson, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (District 1).
According to the Oct. 7 poll, the majority of surveyed Republican voters are still unsure who they support as South Carolina’s next governor with 35% of respondents stating they are undecided. About 17% said they support Evette’s campaign compared to Mace’s and Wilson’s 16%.
U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman (SC-District 5), racked up 11% of support from survey takers while State Sen. Josh Kimbrell (SC- District 11) earned 5%.
Quantus Insights also surveyed the 600 registered Republican voters on the 2026 Senate race.
Three Republicans are running in the Senate primary race so far: Graham, Greenville businessman Mark Lynch and Project 2025 author Paul Dans.
About 58% of survey respondents said they support Graham’s campaign compared to 15% who support Lynch and 7% who support Dans. About a fifth of the survey respondents said they are still undecided on who they support for Senate.
Lindsey Graham addresses shutdown on Meet the Press
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R- South Carolina, appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Oct. 12, where he spoke to host Kristen Welker about several topics, including wars overseas and the government shutdown.
Welker asked Graham if he supports the mass federal worker layoffs announced by the Trump administration during the shutdown, to which Graham said that decisions have to be made when there is no money coming in. He also said he opposed to the continued healthcare subsidies — the core of the spending plan disagreements.
“To my Democratic friends, I am not going to vote to extend these subsidies,” Graham said. “Let’s have a rational discussion, but not with the government shutdown. It’s up to you.”
Outcry over impacts of shutdown on military families
The U.S. government shutdown has surpassed its second week, and one of the most direct impacts of a shutdown is to military families whose military paychecks were in limbo. Some received pay on Oct. 15, while other service members did not.
Twenty seven Republican members of Congress, including South Carolina Reps. William Timmons (SC- District 4), Joe Wilson (SC-District 2) and Sheri Biggs (SC-District 3), wrote a letter to Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Oct. 15, urging him to pass a temporary spending plan to help military families. The letter called out the furlough of more than 334,000 Department of Defense civilian employees and the Department of Veterans Affairs’ limited operations.
“You have made it clear to the American people that shutting down the government is justified in pursuit of your political ends, regardless of the cost to military readiness and the well-being of servicemembers and veterans,” the letter stated. “Your political tactics are putting military members, veterans, and their families at risk.”
The government shutdown has reached a 16th day, making it tied for the third longest shutdown in U.S. history. A Senate vote on a House-passed spending plan failed for the 10th time on Oct. 16.
Clyburn responds to continued shutdown
U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, South Carolina’s only Democratic member of Congress, has refuted his peer’s statements that Democrats are responsible for the shutdown. Clyburn posted on X stating that the Trump administration is using the shutdown as a way to fire federal works and halt government services, while placing the blame on Democrats.
“The Trump Admin. is using the shutdown as a pretext to arbitrarily fire federal workers and upend government services while simultaneously blaming Democrats for federal workers going without pay,” Clyburn stated. “Trump and Republicans are responsible for the shutdown, firings, and chaos. Period.”Clyburn has also been a firm advocate for continuing health care subsidies under the American Rescue Plan Act, saying that without them, South Carolina families will suffer.
“$2,571. That’s how much health care premiums will increase next year for an average family of four in South Carolina on a healthcare.gov plan,” Clybrun posted. “Democrats want to end this shutdown and prevent that from happening. Republicans should join us.”
President Trump endorses Timmons’ campaign
President Donald Trump posted his endorsement of Timmon’s reelection campaign on Truth Social on Oct. 14. Timmons was elected to serve the 4th Congressional District in November 2018 and is up for reelection in the 2026 midterms.
Trump wrote in the post that Timmons knows what it takes to ensure law and order and is a strong supporter of the military and law enforcement. He also commended Timmons’ stance on tax cuts, border security and second amendment rights.
“Congressman William Timmons is doing a truly fantastic job representing the wonderful people of South Carolina’s 4th Congressional District,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Oct. 14. “William Timmons has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election — HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!”
South Carolina senators back restrictions for medication abortions
Graham led a group of 50 other Republican senators, including Sen. Tim Scott, in writing a letter to the Food and Drug Administration that called for a greater restriction to medication abortions.
The letter was addressed to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and FDA Commissioner Martin Makary. It urged them to review the FDA approval of a generic version of mifepristone. The senators argue that medication abortions can cause risks of serious medical complications, while undermining pro-life laws and states’ rights.
“Every month, thousands of abortion drugs are shipped into states that have otherwise limited access to abortion after Dobbs, degrading pro-life laws at the state level across the country,” the letter states. “Pro-life states have been forced to defend their citizens against radical abortion extremists.”
The Republican senators urge health officials to suspend the approval of new mifepristone generics pending a safety review, reinstate an in-person dispensing requirement for the drug, and suspend the distibution of the drug and its generics.
Bella Carpentier covers the South Carolina legislature, state, and Greenville County politics. Contact her at bcarpentier@gannett.com
Powerball, Mega Millions jackpots: What to know in case you win
Here’s what to know in case you win the Powerball or Mega Millions jackpot.
Just the FAQs, USA TODAY
The South Carolina Education Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at May 8, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Mega Millions numbers from May 8 drawing
37-47-49-51-58, Mega Ball: 16
Check Mega Millions payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 3 Plus FIREBALL numbers from May 8 drawing
Midday: 9-2-8, FB: 7
Evening: 2-2-3, FB: 7
Check Pick 3 Plus FIREBALL payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 4 Plus FIREBALL numbers from May 8 drawing
Midday: 5-2-1-5, FB: 7
Evening: 4-6-5-2, FB: 7
Check Pick 4 Plus FIREBALL payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Cash Pop numbers from May 8 drawing
Midday: 13
Evening: 07
Check Cash Pop payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Palmetto Cash 5 numbers from May 8 drawing
02-20-23-27-40
Check Palmetto Cash 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
The South Carolina Education Lottery provides multiple ways to claim prizes, depending on the amount won:
For prizes up to $500, you can redeem your winnings directly at any authorized South Carolina Education Lottery retailer. Simply present your signed winning ticket at the retailer for an immediate payout.
Winnings $501 to $100,000, may be redeemed by mailing your signed winning ticket along with a completed claim form and a copy of a government-issued photo ID to the South Carolina Education Lottery Claims Center. For security, keep copies of your documents and use registered mail to ensure the safe arrival of your ticket.
SC Education Lottery
P.O. Box 11039
Columbia, SC 29211-1039
For large winnings above $100,000, claims must be made in person at the South Carolina Education Lottery Headquarters in Columbia. To claim, bring your signed winning ticket, a completed claim form, a government-issued photo ID, and your Social Security card for identity verification. Winners of large prizes may also set up an Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) for convenient direct deposit of winnings.
Columbia Claims Center
1303 Assembly Street
Columbia, SC 29201
Claim Deadline: All prizes must be claimed within 180 days of the draw date for draw games.
For more details and to access the claim form, visit the South Carolina Lottery claim page.
When are the South Carolina Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 10:59 p.m. ET on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 11 p.m. ET on Tuesday and Friday.
- Pick 3: Daily at 12:59 p.m. (Midday) and 6:59 p.m. (Evening).
- Pick 4: Daily at 12:59 p.m. (Midday) and 6:59 p.m. (Evening).
- Cash Pop: Daily at 12:59 p.m. (Midday) and 6:59 p.m. (Evening).
- Palmetto Cash 5: 6:59 p.m. ET daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a South Carolina editor. You can send feedback using this form.
South Carolina Republicans took the first step Friday to cancel the state’s June primary election — to give more time to potentially pass a new gerrymandered congressional map — as absentee voting is already underway.
A South Carolina House subcommittee voted 3-2 along party lines to advance a bill that would move the state’s June 9 primary election to August 11, with the expectation that the legislature would redraw the state’s congressional map to dismantle its lone Democratic district, represented by longtime Rep. Jim Clyburn.
The vote came after the committee heard hours of public testimony urging lawmakers to reject pressure to delay the state’s primaries and draw new congressional maps. In all, 23 South Carolina residents testified against redistricting and moving the state’s primaries. No one spoke in support of either measure.
More than 6,000 absentee ballots have already been sent out to military and overseas voters for the June primary — more than 200 of those ballots have since been returned, according to the South Carolina Election Commission (SCEC). Should the legislature approve the measure to delay the state’s primary, those ballots will be disqualified.
Conway Belangia, the executive director of the SCEC, said at Friday’s hearing that moving the primary to August “will be difficult… but it is possible.”
The difficulty, he outlined, is the massive amount it will cost taxpayers to toss out the ballots that have already been printed and sent to voters: Approximately $2.5 million.
“That’s being done not for the benefit of all the citizens of this state, but for the benefit of one party,” Rep. Justin Bamberg (D) noted.
Delaying the primary election would be done to accommodate a redistricting process moving so fast that even some state Republicans want to slow down.
Earlier this week, Republicans in the South Carolina House approved a sine die amendment allowing lawmakers to return after adjournment to take up congressional redistricting — joining a cluster of Southern states rushing to redraw maps after the Supreme Court gutted key Voting Rights Act protections that had long shielded Black voting power from racial gerrymandering.
But the state Senate, who convened yesterday and were expected to vote on the sine die amendment, did not take up the measure. Instead, the Senate pushed the vote to next week after some senators said they wanted to see what the new congressional map would look like.
The map, presented during Friday’s House judiciary subcommittee hearing, would carve up Clyburn’s district, which sits in the South and Eastern part of the state and includes much of the majority-Black areas around the cities Charleston and Columbia. Instead, Charleston would be divided up into two districts — districts 1 and 7, the latter of which stretches more than 100 miles from Charleston. And Richland County, which contains the state’s capital city of Columbia, would be chopped up into three different districts.
Dozens of residents testified in opposition to the map and bill to move the state’s primaries during the public comment portion of Friday’s hearing, including former Democratic National Committee chairman Jaime Harrison.
Of the proposed map, Harrison said “Richland County looks like a political jigsaw puzzle.”
For hours, South Carolina residents, one after the other, stepped up to the podium to address the House subcommittee.
James Starnes, the president of a neighborhood association in Clyburn’s district, called the new map a “DEI map.”
“I’m looking at a map that says we’re not going to worry about qualifications, but we’re going to make sure that everybody is a Republican,” Starnes said. “That’s DEI, as defined by the Republican Party… This is the DEI map in my estimation.”
Chris Hemsall, a retired army colonel who also lives in Clyburn’s district, said he was “probably the most conservative person in this room,” and spoke out in opposition to the GOP’s gerrymandering efforts.
“Who thinks gerrymandering is good for democracy?” he asked the lawmakers. “Who thinks gerrymandering makes for a more perfect union? Who thinks gerrymandering establishes justice? Nobody. We all know gerrymandering is wrong, so why are we doing it?”
SOUTH CAROLINA (WPDE) — South Carolina’s 2025-2026 shellfish harvesting season will close May 27 at one-half hour after sunset, according to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.
The closure includes oysters, clams, mussels and other bivalves from state and public shellfish grounds.
Officials said the seasonal shutdown is due to warmer water temperatures, which can increase bacteria levels and make shellfish unsafe to eat.
Recreational harvesting will remain closed through the summer and is expected to reopen Oct. 1.
The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources will continue its Oyster Recycling and Enhancement program year-round, collecting shells to help rebuild oyster reefs. Volunteers can also take part in summer reef restoration projects, which support water quality and marine habitats.
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For more information about shellfish harvesting regulations, click here.
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