Rice Campaign Builds Momentum in South Carolina 3

By Emily Cadei | August 13, 2009 4:22 PM | | Comments (1)

State Rep. Rex Rice is emerging as one of the favorites in the crowded Republican race to succeed four-term incumbent J. Gresham Barrett.

Rice out-raised the rest of the field in the first half of the year and already received the backing of former Arkansas Gov. and 2008 presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. On Thursday, one of his GOP rivals for the post, state Rep. Michael Thompson, announced he was withdrawing from the race and endorsing Rice.

"Having a very strong congressman in the 3rd District is still extremely important to me, while there are many capable candidates in this race, I felt it was important to find someone to get behind," Thompson said in a release, adding that Rice has the character and the experience needed to represent the district.

The heavily Republican district has attracted a crowd of GOP hopefuls since Barrett announced he would not be seeking re-election to run for governor. Among those still in the running are state Sen. Shane Massey, state Rep. Jeff Duncan, anti-abortion activist and entrepreneur Richard Cash, former U.S. Assistant District Attorney James Galyean and physician and Air Force veteran Mike Vasovski.

Former NFL player and coach and Pickens County Council member Sam Wyche is also considering a run.

The winner of the GOP primary is expected to go on to win the seat.

CQ Politics rates the general election contest Safe Republican.

To see how the 2010 House races are shaping up, check out CQ Politics election map

More from CQ Politics

Categories: House, South Carolina

Tags: Cash, Duncan, Galyean, Massey, Rice, Thompson, Vasovski, Wyche

    Comments

  1. Sam Wyche? Interesting. This poor guy lost two heartbreaking Superbowls to the last second theatrics of the immortal Joe Montana.

    Posted by: NObama Author Profile Page | August 13, 2009 7:02 PM

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