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Josh Thornton
Josh Thornton was a candidate who ran in the special election to represent the 5th Congressional District of South Carolina.[1]
Elections
2017
| U.S. House, South Carolina District 5 Special Election, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Ralph Norman |
51% | 45,076 | |
| Democratic | Archie Parnell | 47.9% | 42,341 | |
| American | Josh Thornton | 0.4% | 319 | |
| Libertarian | Victor Kocher | 0.3% | 273 | |
| Green | David Kulma | 0.3% | 242 | |
| Total Votes | 88,316 | |||
| Source: South Carolina Secretary of State | ||||
Republican Ralph Norman defeated Democrat Archie Parnell and three third-party candidates on June 20, 2017. The election replaced Mick Mulvaney (R), who was confirmed as director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.[2] Compared to the tens of millions spent in Georgia's 6th Congressional District special election, which was held on the same day, fundraising and campaigning were more typical in South Carolina's 5th District. Norman raised $1.25 million between January and May, nearly double Parnell's $763,000 in contributions.[3]
| U.S. House, South Carolina District 5 Special Election, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Ralph Norman |
51% | 45,076 | |
| Democratic | Archie Parnell | 47.9% | 42,341 | |
| American | Josh Thornton | 0.4% | 319 | |
| Libertarian | Victor Kocher | 0.3% | 273 | |
| Green | David Kulma | 0.3% | 242 | |
| Total Votes | 88,316 | |||
| Source: South Carolina Secretary of State | ||||
Ballotpedia compiled the following resources to help voters better understand the policy positions of the candidates prior to the Republican primary runoff election on May 16, 2017 and the general election on June 20, 2017, the same day as a special election runoff to fill the vacancy left by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price representing Georgia's 6th Congressional District:
- An overview of each candidate's career and policy priorities;
- A comparison of their voting records in the South Carolina House of Representatives;
- Interviews with local and national political figures on what distinguishes the candidates; and
- Background information about each candidate's endorsements, campaign spending, and advertising.
Primary elections were held on May 2, 2017, for the Democratic and Republican candidates. Archie Parnell won the Democratic primary, while Ralph Norman and Tommy Pope advanced to the Republican primary runoff held on May 16, 2017.[4][5][6]
Unofficial results from May 17 showed that Norman defeated Pope by 203 votes, 50.3 percent to 49.7 percent, in the runoff to win the Republican Party's nomination.[7] Following the certification of the election results by all relevant county election boards on May 18, the results automatically triggered a recount by the state of South Carolina. The recount took place on May 19, with official results showing that former Rep. Ralph Norman defeated Rep. Tommy Pope by a margin of 221 votes.[8][9][10]
South Carolina's 5th Congressional District has become a more solid Republican district in recent elections. Mick Mulvaney (R) originally won election to the district in 2010, defeating then-incumbent John Spratt (D) by 10.4 percent. Mulvaney then won re-election in 2012, 2014, and 2016 by margins of 11.1 percent, 21.3 percent, and 20.5 percent, respectively. The presidential vote in the district has followed the same trend in the past three presidential elections. President Donald Trump (R) won the district by 18.5 percent in 2016. Mitt Romney (R) won the district by 11.5 points in 2012, and John McCain (R) won the district by 11.2 percent in 2008.[11] Filing closed in the race on March 13, 2017. Fifteen candidates filed in the race: three Democrats, seven Republicans, and five third-party candidates.
Primary results
| U.S. House, South Carolina District 5 Republican Runoff Primary, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|
Ralph Norman |
50.3% | 17,823 | ||
| Tommy Pope | 49.7% | 17,602 | ||
| Total Votes | 35,425 | |||
| Source: South Carolina Secretary of State |
||||
| U.S. House, South Carolina District 5 Republican Primary, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|
Tommy Pope |
30.4% | 11,943 | ||
| Ralph Norman |
30.1% | 11,808 | ||
| Tom Mullikin | 19.8% | 7,759 | ||
| Chad Connelly | 14.1% | 5,546 | ||
| Sheri Few | 4.9% | 1,930 | ||
| Kris Wampler | 0.5% | 197 | ||
| Ray Craig | 0.2% | 87 | ||
| Total Votes | 39,270 | |||
| Source: South Carolina Secretary of State |
||||
| U.S. House, South Carolina District 5 Democratic Primary, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|
Archie Parnell |
71.3% | 13,333 | ||
| Alexis Frank | 21.5% | 4,030 | ||
| Les Murphy | 7.2% | 1,346 | ||
| Total Votes | 18,709 | |||
| Source: South Carolina Secretary of State |
||||
Campaign themes
2017
The following issues are listed on Thornton's campaign website. For a full list of campaign themes, click here.
| “ |
|
” |
| —Josh Thornton's campaign website | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Josh Thornton South Carolina Congress. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- United States House of Representatives
- South Carolina's 5th Congressional District special election, 2017
- South Carolina's 5th Congressional District
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ South Carolina Election Commission, "Candidate Listing for the 6/20/2017 US House of Rep Dist 5 Special Election," accessed March 13, 2017
- ↑ ABC 7, "Donald Trump Taps Mick Mulvaney for Office of Management and Budget," December 19, 2016
- ↑ FEC.gov, "Norman, Ralph W. Jr.," accessed June 20, 2017
- ↑ South Carolina Election Commission, "U.S. House of Representatives District 5," February 16, 2017
- ↑ South Carolina Election Commission, "Candidate Listing for the 6/20/2017 US House of Rep Dist 5 Special Election," accessed March 13, 2017
- ↑ The New York Times, "Live Election Results: South Carolina’s Fifth Congressional District," May 2, 2017
- ↑ The New York Times, "Live Election Results: South Carolina’s Fifth Congressional District," accessed May 16, 2017
- ↑ The State, "Norman apparent winner in tight 5th District GOP runoff," May 16, 2017
- ↑ The State, "Recount today in 5th District GOP race," May 19, 2017
- ↑ The State, "5th District recount leaves Norman the winner," May 19, 2017
- ↑ The Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' presidential results by congressional district for the 2016 and 2012 elections," accessed April 26, 2017
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
