People mingle at the Hobcaw Yacht Club in Mount Pleasant along the Wando River as the setting sun glows on the windows. This is the golden hour, that period of time before the end of the day.
Time is running out for Democratic candidate Michael Moore as he stands in front of the crowd trying to convince voters to send him to Congress. The 61-year-old has never run for president.
“Some of you may have heard the story of my great-grandfather,” Moore says as he begins to introduce himself.
Moore comes from a long line of public servants including his great-grandfather Robert Smalls, a black Civil War hero who once represented what is now the 1st Congressional District.
“I have a great honor to run for the same seat in which he served 150 years ago,” Moore told the dozens of men and women sitting around him.
Victoria Hansen
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South Carolina Public Radio
1st Congressional District Democratic candidate Michael B. Moore (left) speaks with voters at the Hobcaw Yacht Club in Mount Pleasant.
In recent years, the region, which runs along the state’s southern coast, has become one of the most competitive. Democrat Joe Cunningham flipped it for the first time in decades in 2018. Now Moore is challenging the Republican incumbent who flipped it again in 2020, Nancy Mace.
But with just days to go until Election Day, this year’s race has been far from competitive for a political newcomer trying to take on a Trump-backed candidate. Maybe it has nothing to do with Moore. The district was redrawn two years ago to lean Republican and exclude about 30,000 black voters.
However, Moore, a longtime businessman and former CEO of the new International African American Museum in Charleston, is sticking by his campaign. He says he is running as an alternative to partisan politics.
“I think a lot of times these controversial issues are created to scare and divide people,” Moore says.
One of those contentious issues, he says, is immigration. It is believed that migrants have been unfairly demonized for political gain.
Moore says he went to the border and found mostly young families looking to escape violence, not commit it. He doesn’t believe immigrants pose a threat to South Carolinians, but says reform is necessary to deal with the large numbers of people seeking safety.
Moore says he’s most concerned about women’s reproductive rights, the cost of living and the impact of climate change on the region’s vulnerable coast.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
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AP
Rep. Nancy Mace, Republican of South Carolina, speaks during the Republican National Convention Wednesday, July 17, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Mace says she, too, is concerned about these issues but disagrees with Moore on immigration.
“I went out to lunch the last couple of days, and both times there were a group of people who didn’t speak any English here in South Carolina,” Mays says during a Zoom interview.
Mays believes the influx of illegal immigrants willing to work for less money threatens jobs in South Carolina. She says they commit violent crimes even though studies show that undocumented immigrants are less likely to offend than people born here.
Last month, Mace accused the Charleston County Sheriff of allowing migrants to “escape” and shared her concerns on the floor of the US House of Representatives.
“I got up today to let the sheriff of Charleston County in South Carolina know that she can run but she can’t hide,” Mays said.
Sheriff Graziano’s response was quick and sharp.
“Nancy Mays is full of shit,” Graziano said. “She clearly doesn’t understand the law.”
So, why does Mace attack the sheriff instead of her opponent, Moore?
“It’s a new era in American politics, where a lot of people are just trying to win the next headlines,” says Gibbs Knotts, a political scientist at Coastal Carolina University.
He says the race was less competitive than he expected. Cook’s political reports now call him “Solid Red.”
But what if Black voters who were not exiled from the district turned out in record numbers with Vice President Kamala Harris running for president? Knotts says it’s possible, but former President Donald Trump is expected to win the district, and he has endorsed Mace.
“I would give a slight edge to Nancy Mays in terms of coat effect,” Knotts says. “But you never know. We have an African-American woman running for the first time ever.”
Right now, congressional candidates are busy making their final pitches.
“I think we have an opportunity not only to make history, but to redouble our efforts on democracy, redouble our efforts on inclusion,” Moore says.
“I’ll tell you the truth. I promise you no one will work harder for the state of South Carolina than me,” Mays says.
This is the golden hour for their campaigns with only five days left until the 2024 election.
