<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1654265295179,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"00000162-07b2-d172-a563-4ffafb0a0000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1654265295179,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"00000162-07b2-d172-a563-4ffafb0a0000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_54185662", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1024458"} }); ","_id":"00000181-29e5-dfdd-a99b-adf72afb0000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video EmbedEXCLUSIVE — Rep. Tom Rice (R-SC) has a double-digit edge on his former President Donald Trump-endorsed opponent, South Carolina state Rep. Russell Fry, according to an internal poll.
Rice has 38% support among likely Republican primary voters in the 7th Congressional District, which spans from Grand Strand to Pee Dee, his poll found. Fry, a state lawmaker who has emerged as his main rival, has 21% support, with businesswoman Barbara Arthur a close third at 19%. Horry County Schools board chairman emeritus Ken Richardson has 9%, physician Garrett Barton has 8%, and ex-Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark McBride has 2%. Another 3% remain undecided.
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The poll essentially flips the findings of at least two Fry internal surveys, as well as Trafalgar Group research released this week. Those surveys suggest Fry has roughly 40% support to Rice’s quarter-share. But they also indicate Arthur has closer to 10% support, in addition to Richardson.
Rice’s polling team live interview surveyed 400 respondents from May 25-26 for a margin of error of plus or minus 5.2 percentage points. A Rice aide said the poll did not ask about a hypothetical runoff among Rice, Fry, and Arthur during this round of questioning but that the team plans to “soon.” She added this research “tracked pretty close” with previously gathered data, although “a portion of the undecideds have fractured off between the other candidates.”
In a memo circulated among staff, Logan McVey, the campaign manager, attributed the fifth-term incumbent’s numbers to ads attacking Fry for missing votes and his voting record, particularly regarding state taxes. Rice is vulnerable after backing Trump’s impeachment over Jan. 6.
“Arthur is now within the margin of error against Fry and could possibly be leading, despite spending no money on television,” McVey wrote. “The Fry campaign is still struggling to attain Trump’s national endorsement average of 32%.”
McVey similarly criticized Fry’s fundraising ability, drawing parallels between Fry and defeated Georgia Republican gubernatorial primary contender David Perdue. He cited Perdue, too, in his Trafalgar Group poll dismissal, describing it as an “outlier.” Fry has complained that much of Rice’s almost $2 million cash on hand comes from out of state.
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“Republicans have been notoriously hesitant to even admit to a pollster they plan to buck the Trump-endorsed candidate,” he wrote.
“One week out, Trafalgar predicted the [Georgia] governor’s race would [be] at Kemp 52%, Perdue 38%,” he added of sitting state chief executive Brian Kemp. “The actual results were Kemp 74%, Perdue 22%. This anomaly will hold in SC-7.”
