Why was Ron DeSantis in Tega Cay? What the SC town offers to GOP presidential hopeful
A South Carolina town with a population of less than 15,000 hosted a major presidential candidate Monday as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke to voters in Tega Cay.
DeSantis is vying to win the Palmetto State’s “First in the South” primary come February in a Republican field that also includes former President Donald Trump, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and South Carolina’s U.S. Sen. Tim Scott.
He addressed voters Monday night at the Philip T. Glennon Community Center and planned to head to Columbia, South Carolina, on Tuesday to officially file to get on the state’s primary ballot, the Associated Press reported.
While the small town near the North Carolina border may seem like an out-of-the-box spot for a campaign stop, Winthrop political science professor Scott Huffmon says Tega Cay can offer a few advantages to DeSantis.
“There may be a little bit of an aspect of convenience to it, but strategically, it makes sense,” he said.
Tega Cay demographics
Tega Cay, which sits on Lake Wylie at the state line, has a population of 13,689, according to the latest estimate from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The town is 76% white, and 15.8% of the population is aged 65 years or older. Just 0.5% of residents live in poverty, the Census Bureau says. The median household income is $130,571, according to the U.S. Census.
“There’s a lot of money in Tega Cay,” said Huffmon, who serves as director of Winthrop’s Center for Public Opinion & Policy Research. “... I’m a little curious about the behind-the-scenes fundraising aspect (of the trip).”
How Republican is York County?
Tega Cay is also part of the “strong conservative” 5th Congressional District in South Carolina, Huffmon noted. Dating back to 2010, Republicans have won the congressional district with 55% or more of the vote.
“Over the last 20 years, people have jumped the border from North Carolina. They’re living now in South Carolina with lower taxes, and they brought their conservative ideology with them,” he said. “So he’s gonna have a base of strong supporters.”
York County, home to Tega Cay, has been ruby red in recent election cycles.
Of York County voters who voted straight party in the 2020 general election, 63.41% voted Republican, according to data from the South Carolina Election Commission. That number was 67.09% in 2022.
Then-President Trump defeated Democrat Joe Biden in the county by a margin of 57.43% to 40.96% in 2020, state data says. And Republican Gov. Henry McMaster cruised to reelection over Democrat Joe Cunningham in 2022 in part by a margin of 60.59% to 37.66% in York County.
Proximity to Charlotte a plus
Tega Cay is also a good fit geographically for a presidential hopeful because of its proximity to a large media market in Charlotte, according to Huffmon.
“He’s gonna get TV coverage from all of Charlotte, and he’s gonna get statewide coverage for the most part in South Carolina,” he said. “And he’s definitely gonna get coverage in the 5th District.”
How is DeSantis polling in the Carolinas?
Huffmon’s team at Winthrop won’t release their next Republican primary poll until September, he said, but DeSantis trailed Trump in the group’s last poll in the spring.
Still, he added, “Trump’s numbers were not as high in South Carolina as they were elsewhere.”
“There’s room for non-Trump candidates in South Carolina,” Huffmon said. “Whether or not our homegrown candidates are going to move into that territory or whether DeSantis could pick it up remains to be seen.”
Two June polls of likely voters in South Carolina tracked by FiveThirtyEight show DeSantis as a distant second to Trump, by a margin of 41% to 18%.
In North Carolina, recent polls tracked by FiveThirtyEight show DeSantis in second place behind Trump among likely voters in the Republican primary field. DeSantis did lead Trump in the Tar Heel State in two earlier polls listed by FiveThirtyEight, one from December and another January.
Nationally, FiveThirtyEight’s model has Trump leading DeSantis by a margin of 50% to 20.5% as of Monday.
This story was originally published July 17, 2023 at 5:03 PM.
