Drew McKissick beats Jeff Davis, Zoe Warren, re-elected chairman of SC Republican Party

Drew McKissick was re-elected to a fourth term as chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party at Saturday's state convention in Lexington, withstanding a challenge from Jeff Davis of Greenville.

McKissick received 485 votes (51,8%), Davis 309 votes (33%), Zoe Warren of West Columbia 123 votes (13.1%).

Greenville County voted 75 for Davis, 12 for Warren, 1 for Tim Cox of Charleston County and zero for McKissick.

Spartanburg County voted 40 for McKissick, 4 for Davis and 12 for Warren.

Pickens County voted all 24 ballots for Davis, and Anderson County voted 14 for Davis, 15 for Warren and six for McKissick.

McKissick was seeking a fourth term since his election in 2017. He is also Republican National Convention co-chair.

In his plea to voting delegates, McKissick cited his record of having led the party to an increasing number of GOP victories statewide during his tenure.

"You can't govern if you don't win," he said. "You think CRT ought to be in our schools? Do you think we should ban abortion from South Carolina? You don't ask those questions of people who lost. We have to actually win. I'm here to say here in South Carolina, we know how to win."

Davis said McKissick has caused division in the Republican Party.

"I speak to a lot of you that are tired of our division in our party," he said. "It's not we the people, it's the establishment that's pushing us out, that's not letting us speak.

"If you want South Carolina to not be an abortion destination, if you want us to have the best school choice, if you want us to have not the highest marginal income tax rate – but the lowest in the Southeast, you need to think about voting for our America First movement. It's not stopping," he said.

McKissick has enjoyed the trust of several party heavyweights. He garnered the endorsement of former President Donald Trump when he last ran in 2021 and has led the party to a supermajority in the General Assembly.

He was also supported by Gov. Henry McMaster, who appeared and spoke at Saturday's event.

Also making an appearance was presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. Former South Carolina Gov. and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and South Carolina U.S. Sen. Tim Scott did not attend. Video messages from Scott and Trump were shown to the delegates.

Davis, outgoing chairman of the Greenville County Republican Party, will now take on the role of serving on the state executive committee, which votes on key statewide issues.

Davis was elected chairman of the Greenville County GOP in 2021. Prior to Davis, Nate Leupp, the current 4th Congressional District GOP chairman, was chairman of the Greenville County GOP from 2017-21. Yvonne Julian was recently elected incoming chair of the Greenville County GOP.

Another challenger to McKissick was Warren, who gained statewide attention when he ran beside Greenville's Harrison Musselwhite for the Lt. Gov.'s position last year.

In his speech to delegates, Warren vowed to unify the party if elected chairman.

Devyani Chhetri reports on SC politics for the Greenville News and contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: McKissick beats Davis, Warren, re-elected chair of SC Republican Party