“McMaster is the governor of the past. I’m running to be the governor of the future,” Cunningham said at his victory party.

McMaster is seeking a second four-year term. Prior to his first election, he left his former post as lieutenant governor to complete the final two years of former Governor Nikki Haley’s term. If he wins and completes a second full term, it will make him the longest-serving governor in state history. Haley resigned to take a job in the administration of then-President Donald Trump.

Abortion could be a key issue in November. Cunningham frequently says he would veto any stricter ban on abortion in South Carolina that might follow a U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that established a nationwide right to abortion. Republicans are just short of a two-thirds majority in the General Assembly, so they couldn’t override his veto.

McMaster has promised to sign any bill restricting abortion, including a total ban on the procedure.

Democrats haven’t won the gubernatorial race in South Carolina since 1998.

In Tuesday’s GOP primary, McMaster defeated Harrison “Trucker Bob” Musselwhite, a trucker and former businessman who said he was running to allow the open carry of guns, prevent any warrants from government vaccine and eliminate state income taxes.

McMaster has mostly let his government campaign, reminding voters how he tried to carefully tailor COVID-19 restrictions when the pandemic began and how the state’s economy is booming while the Democratic administration of Washington is fighting inflation.

“South Carolina is now well on its way to being on top of the world,” McMaster said Tuesday at his victory party.

He raised $5 million for his re-election bid.

“I want to thank you again for this great victory tonight. And we’re looking for one more,” said McMaster, who in his four decades in politics also won a race for attorney general. He made an unsuccessful run for the US Senate in 1986 against the late Ernest “Fritz” Hollings.

Cunningham congratulated McMaster on his victory before launching into a jab about his age.

“Henry McMaster is not just a career politician. He is a lifelong politician. He was working in the halls of Congress before I was born,” Cunningham said.

Cunningham beat out State Senator Mia McLeod, health care administrator Carlton Boyd, barber and musician Calvin “CJ Mack” McMillan and Vietnam veteran and former postal worker William H. “Cowboy” Williams.

Most of the attention had focused on Cunningham and McLeod, who raised the most money. Cunningham received $1.8 million, while McLeod received approximately $500,000.

McLeod has often billed herself as the first black woman to run for governor of South Carolina, although she has said her main goal is not to make history, but to make a difference. She said South Carolina needs an alternative to the string of “lightweight Republican” Democratic men who have run and lost the last five gubernatorial races.

“I am a different type of democrat. And I’m going to be a different kind of governor.

Follow Jeffrey Collins on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JSColinsAP.