South Carolina Republican Rep. William Timmons held off a primary challenge by conservative state Rep. Adam Morgan last Tuesday, narrowly winning the GOP primary to seek a fourth term in the House.
The moderate Republican eked out a win in SC-04 with a little over 2,000 votes, capping off a contentious primary campaign against the chairman of the state’s conservative Freedom Caucus.
While Morgan won Greenville County by roughly 2,000 votes, Timmons easily won Spartanburg County by a margin wide enough to make up for losing Greenville.
The incumbent Republican, who earlier last Tuesday said he was in Washington for a House vote, issued a statement thanking the voters for seeing through what he described as Morgan’s “countless lies.”
Timmons also thanked Donald Trump for his support in the primary and said he was “proud” to run again in November “to continue to represent South Carolina’s Fourth District.”
Timmons invoked Donald Trump’s endorsement throughout the primary race, even calling on Morgan to drop out because Trump did not support him.
Morgan gained the support of many prominent voices on the right, including Glenn Beck, Daniel Horowitz, Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk, and even Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, over remarks he made during a legislative debate in March. Gaetz reposted a video of Morgan’s remarks, sending the clip viral on social media.
Gaetz later campaigned with Morgan in Greenville.
Morgan later unearthed video of Timmons which he claimed showed the congressman’s support for DEI efforts in Congress. Timmons hit back by highlighting a vote Morgan cast in support of jailing women for attempting to perform abortions on themselves.
Morgan sought to appeal to conservatives in the district by promising to join the House Freedom Caucus if he was elected. Timmons previously dismissed the notion of joining the conservative caucus, arguing that the Freedom Caucus made the legislative process more difficult.
Timmons will face off in November against Democrat challenger Kathryn Harvey and Constitution Party candidate Mark Hackett.
