For the last 30 years, Greenville elections have felt like coloring with a limited four-pack of crayons, but the 2026 candidate filing deadline just completely changed the picture. In this episode, Katy Smith and Nathaniel DeSantis unpack the official list of candidates running for local and statewide offices to help you navigate this surprisingly competitive new political landscape. By tuning in, you will learn exactly how these newly crowded races will impact your ballot so you can become a fully informed voter before ever stepping into the booth.
We break down the historic surge in competition across Greenville County elections, exploring why a staggering 72% of local races - including 14 out of 16 state house seats - will actually be contested this November. You will discover the critical mechanics of South Carolina's open primaries and learn why highly populated races for governor and the U.S. Senate make a June runoff practically inevitable. We also reveal which essential county administrative offices remain primary-only contests, leaving you to wonder if you are accidentally letting other people make the most important local decisions for you.
If you found this election breakdown helpful, please leave us a review to help other voters get educated before heading to the polls!
Episode Resources:
Overview of the 2026 Filing Deadline
Katy Smith:
The candidate filing window for the 2026 primary officially closed at noon today, March 30th. The results of who is running are a massive departure from what we've seen in Greenville County for the last 30 years.
Do you actually have a choice on your ballot this November? Or was the winner decided the moment that a candidate filed because no one is running against them?
I'm Katy Smith with Greater Good Greenville, and on this episode of Simple Civics: Greenville County, our producer Nathaniel DeSantis and I are unpacking who's running in 2026.
We will look at the surprising surge in competition for our state house seats, the local offices that remain primary-only contests, and the crowded races that are almost certain to head to a June runoff.
Whether you are a political junkie or just want to know who is asking for your vote, we are here to help you navigate this newly colorful landscape. Get informed, get your calendar out, and let's see who's on the ballot.
The Evolution of Choice in Greenville Elections
Nathaniel DeSantis:
Welcome back to another episode of Simple Civics. I am Nathaniel, and I'm here with Katy. The 2026 filing for the primaries officially closed today at noon, March 30th.
The list for the statewide primaries is final. Katy, I understand you were at the Election Commission office when filing closed.
Katy Smith:
I was. I have often referred on this podcast to people coming in at the last minute to file once they see who else has filed. I was curious to see what it looked like.
Indeed, a couple of people did roll in that last hour of filing. I was able to go and look at the window and see who was running. Honestly, it took me back to being a kid at a restaurant back in the day.
Nathaniel DeSantis:
Like waiting for a table.
Katy Smith:
Nathaniel, as a Gen Xer, I'm wondering if you remember this too as someone younger. I remember this very specific restaurant experience when I'd get my paper placemat or kids menu that had the maze and the word search.
Sometimes they would hand you that little box of three or four crayons. Do you remember that? Did you experience that?
Nathaniel DeSantis:
Oh yeah, I got the crayons all the time. Red, blue, yellow, green, all of them.
Katy Smith:
Sometimes you were lucky to get the green. Sometimes they made you work only with primary colors to make your own green. This was before the iPad days, but we had very limited options back then.
It was hard to even make a sunset. You could make lots of red balloons if you wanted. For the last 30 years, that is a lot like what Greenville elections have felt like.
We've been coloring in our democracy with that teeny tiny box of crayons. Oftentimes, we had only one color in the box.
Nathaniel DeSantis:
But today, with the results that I'm seeing on all the spreadsheets you've shared with me, it feels like we got the full 32 boxes of crayons here in Greenville County.
Understanding Primaries, Runoffs, and the Election Timeline
Katy Smith:
We're not yet to the 64-crayon box with a fancy sharpener on the back. But we have gone from very limited choice to a more high-definition multicolor ballot.
Before we get into the colors available this year, we should probably remind everyone how this box of crayons primary actually works. We did a whole episode on this earlier this year that we can put in the show notes.
Let's just remind everyone how we get from filing today to the winner in November. The general election is Tuesday, November 3rd, 2026. But the semifinals happen a lot sooner.
On Tuesday, June 9th, we hold our statewide primary. This is when parties choose who will be on the ballot for all the voters to choose from in November.
In South Carolina, a candidate must win more than 50% of the vote during the primary to avoid a runoff two weeks later on June 23rd. This is going to be especially critical this year because for governor, we have seven Republicans and three Democrats who filed.
A runoff is almost a certainty in those parties. November features the final faceoff between the parties. That includes the GOP candidate that goes forward, the Democratic candidate, and third parties like United Citizens or Libertarians.
June is when you choose which specific individual gets to carry that party's flag on your ballot. Remember, in South Carolina, we have open primaries, which means you don't register as a Republican or a Democrat.
You simply show up on primary day in June and choose which party's ballot you wish to vote. Primaries are very important.
Historical Context of Greenville County Elections
Nathaniel DeSantis:
Sticking with the crayon analogy, let's talk about those four-pack crayon years. You've been looking at the data back to 1996, the year I was born. What was the standard color palette for Greenville?
Katy Smith:
It was very monochromatic. Since the late 90s, the red crayon, the Republican crayon, has dominated here. In a typical cycle, roughly 70 to 80 percent of our statehouse seats were uncontested in the general election.
That means you'd go to the poll in November, you'd look at your ballot for state representative, and there would be only one name and no choice. There might have been a choice in the primary, but not in the general.
Nathaniel DeSantis:
Right. And if you lived in a district where you didn't align with one candidate, you just didn't color.
Katy Smith:
You essentially had a blank space on your map. This was especially true for county offices. Since 1996, positions like sheriff, auditor, and treasurer have been almost exclusively decided in the Republican primary.
If you didn't vote in the Republican primary in June, you had zero say in who ran those offices. You would come in November and just see that name on the ballot with the possibility of a write-in candidate.
There are some districts in which that was true for the Democratic Party, for sure, and that's time around. For the most part, it's been a more Republican-predominated election.
Surge in Competitive Races and Party Participation
Nathaniel DeSantis:
But today, based off the spreadsheets you shared with me already, it feels different. You've crunched the numbers for the 32 races touching Greenville this year, which is insane. What does that big box of crayons look like?
Katy Smith:
It is very vibrant. For the first time in my memory, we are seeing a massive surge in candidates from different parties raising their hands to serve.
This year, 72% of our races in Greenville County are competitive in the general election. That's 23 out of those 32 races where you will have a choice between at least two parties when you go to vote in November.
That is a really big deal because that has not been the case since we've been doing the podcast and not in recent history. Only 15% of the races are truly one-name-only ballots, which means whoever filed to run for their seat is the only person who filed on either side. They're essentially already winners.
Nathaniel DeSantis:
Let's look at the state house specifically. We've done two rounds of interviews for the state house seats, and we generally find that those don't have the most competition. Is that looking the same this year?
Katy Smith:
It's very different this year. It is pretty wild to think both in 2022 and 2024, we extended interviews to all candidates in the primary and the general.
We found those to be mostly competitive in the primary with no one filing against them in the general on both the Republican and the Democratic side. This time around, of the 16 House districts in our area, 14 will be contested in November.
We have Democrats filing in places like District 18 and District 21 where they haven't tried to compete in recent years. Not only do we have a lot of folks to interview for the primary in those partisan races, it'll happen again in November, which is really exciting.
Nathaniel DeSantis:
And what about the opposite? Any places where there wasn't much competition at all?
Katy Smith:
For sure. District 23 only has one person who filed. That's Representative Chandra Dillard, who will keep her seat.
District 25 is a Democratic primary-only race, with incumbent Wendell Jones facing Derrick Quarles. But everywhere else, we have a lot of interesting things happening.
Key Races Facing Potential Runoffs
Nathaniel DeSantis:
Let's talk about runoffs. A moment ago, you mentioned that a candidate must win more than 50% of the vote to avoid a runoff. Looking at that list with that 50% rule in mind, where might we expect to have some runoffs?
Katy Smith:
This is where voters really need to pay attention because more choice does mean a higher chance of having to vote twice in June. The governor's race is the big one.
On the Republican side, there are seven candidates. On the Democratic side, there are three. With that many people sharing the vote, it's almost certain we will have a runoff for both parties.
The same numbers are true for the U.S. Senate race for the seat currently held by Senator Lindsey Graham. There are seven Republican candidates who have filed, including Senator Graham, and there are three Democratic candidates.
It is very likely to head to a runoff. This has enormous national implications that the typically small number of primary runoff voters could decide. It is important.
The attorney general's race Republican primary has three candidates. Right here in Greenville County in District 17, which is northern Greenville County, four Republicans have filed to run for county council and zero Democrats.
Because there is no Democrat, the winner of this primary is the next county council member. With four people running, the top two will almost certainly head to a runoff.
Nathaniel DeSantis:
To emphasize that, if you live in Council District 17, you are more or less picking your representative in June, but you'll probably have to do it over two different Tuesdays.
Katy Smith:
Yes. In the 2024 election, we did an episode about runoffs, so we can put that in the show notes too. This is what I really want to make sure everyone understands.
Too many people feel that voting in the primary is already a big deal and they don't need to do the runoff. But that to me is like going to a football game, battling the traffic, making your tailgate, and leaving once it goes to overtime.
That's when the magic happens. Everyone, please mark your calendars for June 23rd and assume that you are going to be voting in a runoff because there are some exciting races ahead.
Identifying Uncontested Local Offices
Nathaniel DeSantis:
We're seeing a lot of competition, but where are we seeing a lack of competition?
Katy Smith:
On the county's administrative side, there isn't competition. One person filed to run and it was the incumbents. These are down-ballot races that people don't always associate with policy, even though they're important.
They handle your money and your legal records. For these four countywide positions—auditor, treasurer, probate judge, and solicitor—the incumbents who hold them filed to run and no one is running against them.
You won't be voting in those cases. Otherwise, there are lots of choices in both the primary and the general election.
Empowering Informed Voters for the Upcoming Cycle
Nathaniel DeSantis:
You have looked at the data from 1996 all the way to 2026. What's the takeaway?
Katy Smith:
My takeaway is that having choices requires homework. You always have to be an informed voter. Back in the day when you only had one or two people to choose from, you didn't have to think too much about that big picture.
Now, with 14 contested House seats and a seven-way primary for governor, you've got to sharpen your understanding of these candidates. At Simple Civics: Greenville County, we always say we don't care which color crayon you pick.
We do not care who you vote for. We just want you to vote and get involved. We love that the picture of Greenville's future is getting colored in with more detail. We love seeing people raise their hands to serve.
Remember that still 15 to 20 percent of these races, including some key county council seats, will be decided only in June. If you don't show up for the primary, you're letting someone else make choices for you.
Plan to vote in June or during early voting post-Memorial Day, then vote again in the runoff, and then vote again in November.
Nathaniel DeSantis:
To help you do your homework, we will be interviewing tons of candidates. We have a list of 26 we're already reaching out to.
They will hopefully come on the podcast and talk for 10 minutes so you can listen and make an informed decision. It makes the homework a little bit easier for you so that you can just keep on listening to the podcast and get it all right here.
Katy Smith:
Nathaniel, I am so excited that you're going to have available a candidate lookup tool for folks again. It has been an enormous resource in previous years.
People can easily find who they could vote for, listen to their podcast episode, check out their social media and candidate website, and make it so much easier to be an educated voter.
Nathaniel DeSantis:
That'll be out by Memorial Day and we'll keep everyone posted on when that's ready to go. You'll be able to see everyone there, listen to their episodes, and do your homework.
Thanks everyone for listening. Katy, thank you for doing all this research and helping us understand this in a very easy way with your crayon analogy. I thought that was perfect. Any final closing thoughts?
Katy Smith:
I just want to say thank you to everyone who filed and is raising their hands to serve or to continue to serve. You guys are what makes our country great.
Credits
Simple Civics: Greenville County is Produced by Podcast Studio X.
A Greater Good Greenville project.
