Trump-backed candidate loses South Carolina runoff, handing win to McMaster

Republican nurse practitioner Sheri Biggs has won the GOP primary runoff for South Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District, Decision Desk HQ projects, in an unusual race that pitted Donald Trump against one of his top allies.

Biggs beat Trump-endorsed Mark Burns in the one-on-one runoff after neither secured a majority of the vote in the initial, more crowded primary earlier this month. Her win is an upset, as Burns was the top vote-getter in the first round. 

Biggs’s win is a blow to the former president, whose endorsement power has been put to the test in several key primaries this cycle. She had scored the support of South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, himself an ally of the former president, but also shared photos of herself with Trump on her campaign website. 

Biggs now inches closer to replacing incumbent Republican Rep. Jeff Duncan, a member of the House Freedom Caucus who decided against reelection.

She will face Democrat Byron Best in the fall, but the Republican candidate has the advantage in the conservative district.