Phi Beta Sigma’s Jermaine Johnson Becomes South Carolina’s Democratic Nominee for Governor

Jermaine Johnson of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. has won the Democratic nomination for governor of South Carolina, advancing to a November bid to become the state’s first Democratic governor in more than two decades.

Johnson, a three-term member of the South Carolina House of Representatives representing District 52, secured the nomination on June 9 with 58.2 percent of the vote, clearing the majority threshold needed to avoid a runoff, WIS News 10 reported. He defeated Greenville businessman Billy Webster and Charleston attorney Mullins McLeod.

A former College of Charleston basketball player, Johnson first won his statehouse seat in 2020 and is a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., according to his South Carolina Legislative Black Caucus profile.

South Carolina has not elected a Democratic governor since Jim Hodges, who left office in January 2003, ABC News 4 noted. Johnson now advances to the November 3 general election, where he will face the winner of a Republican runoff between Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and Attorney General Alan Wilson.

If elected, Johnson would become the first member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. to win a governorship in the continental United States. The fraternity has previously produced two governors: Dr. Melvin H. Evans, the first elected governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Sir Arleigh Winston Scott, who served as Governor General of Barbados from 1967 to 1976.

The South Carolina gubernatorial election will be held in November 2026.