Seven candidates are running in the Republican primary for South Carolina’s 7th Congressional District on June 14, 2022. Incumbent Tom Rice and Russell Fry and received the most media attention.
Rice, first elected to the U.S. House in 2012, was one of 10 Republican members of the U.S. House who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump (R) in 2021. The Republican Party of South Carolina censured Rice after his vote. In Feb. 2022, Rice told NPR that he stood by his impeachment vote. “And I guess if the consequences are that the people think what happened is OK, then I guess, you know, I’m not that guy,” Rice said.
Jerry Rovner, the Republican chair of District 7, told NPR that the vote could cost Rice his seat. Rovner said, “That is one of the vulnerabilities of Tom Rice. Nobody would have thought of doing that. I mean, Tom could have been in that seat forever.”
