Cunningham slams McMaster on same-sex marriage stance at Myrtle Beach campaign stop

Hours after stepping off a debate stage, South Carolina’s Democratic gubernatorial candidate Joe Cunningham continued his offensive against rival Gov. Henry McMaster, accusing him of falling out of touch with a rapidly changing state.

Cunningham said McMaster’s support of an existing ban within the state constitution barring same-sex marriage and his strong anti-abortion stance put him among America’s most extreme governors.

“This is the United States of America, and I don’t care who you love and who you marry, and neither should the government,” Cunningham said Thursday. “It’s not their damn business.”

McMaster has said South Carolina should ban all abortions without any exceptions in the law.

“I had to travel all the way from Charleston to be (at the debate),” Cunningham said from a Myrtle Beach cantina overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. “And Gov. McMaster had to travel all the way from 1952 to be there.”

Cunningham, 40, said South Carolina needs to implement more progressive strategies to help boost teacher pay, such as legalizing marijuana and sports betting. Proceeds would pay for across-the-board raises for educators in an effort to raise their starting wage to $50,000 from the statewide average of just under $40,000 now.

“If you didn’t get an appreciation for teachers after going through the pandemic with little ones in your homes, I don’t know what to say to you,” Cunningham said. “Politicians are failing our teachers. And when you fail our teachers, you fail our kids.

“Our state needs an education governor, and that’s exactly the kind of governor that I’m going to be.”

McMaster campaign spokesman Brandon Charochak said if elected, Cunningham would be an ineffective leader.

“Having a soft on crime, Biden-Pelosi Democrat like Joe Cunningham in office would only lead to skyrocketing crime rates and crumbling economy,” he said.

Addressing a crowd of roughly 100 at Bandito’s on Ocean Boulevard, Cunningham said his 2018 victory in the state’s 1st Congressional District is evidence that Democratic values connect with voters.

“People say, ‘A Democrat hasn’t won (the governor’s race) in 20 years. A Democrat hadn’t won the 1st Congressional District in 40 years and we proved them wrong in 2018. We did it then, and we can do it again,” he said. “We’re seeing the minds and hearts of South Carolinians change in every corner of this state.”