For many Democratic candidates, the road to the presidency currently goes through South Carolina, an early primary state where Black voters dominate the state’s Democratic voter base.

Newsom and Beshear visit South Carolina with their messages

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has not formally declared his candidacy but is considered an early front-runner for the Democratic nomination, visited South Carolina earlier in July. Newsom’s visit included attending a Black church and making an appearance with South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn, one of the Democratic Party’s most influential members. Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign was revived after winning the South Carolina Democratic primary on the strength of Clyburn’s endorsement and Black voters’ support. Biden then supported a move to make South Carolina the first Democratic primary in the election cycle, further boosting its importance for potential nominees.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom greets attendees at Bella’s Simple Occasions event space on July 8, 2025 in Bennettsville, South Carolina. The governor is on the first of a two-day tour of rural counties in South Carolina, hosted by the state Democratic Party. | Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images

California Gov. Gavin Newsom reaches out to an attendee at the Kershaw County Center on Aging on July 8, 2025 in Camden, South Carolina. The governor is on the first of a two-day tour of rural counties in South Carolina, hosted by the state Democratic Party. | Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images

California Gov. Gavin Newsom greets attendees at Bella’s Simple Occasions event space on July 8, 2025 in Bennettsville, South Carolina. The governor is on the first of a two-day tour of rural counties in South Carolina, hosted by the state Democratic Party. | Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images

Newsom is one of several potential Democratic nominees who have recently visited South Carolina or will soon travel to the Palmetto State. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who, like Newsom, is set to leave office soon because of term limits, is scheduled to visit the state in mid-July. He is expected to tout his progressive record to contrast himself with Newsom, who has presented himself as a moderate and criticized “woke” Democratic politics. Beshear also plans to explicitly appeal to Black voters, pointing out accomplishments in Kentucky, such as banning hair-based discrimination, removing a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and making Juneteenth a holiday in the state. “The current federal administration wants to make diversity a dirty word,” Beshear plans to say in an upcoming speech, according to excerpts that have been reported ahead of time, ABC News reported. “They want people to believe that equity means everyone isn’t worthy of opportunities.”

Winning over Black voters in South Carolina and across the U.S.

Other potential candidates are also drawing upon their appeal to Black voters, their relationships with top Black leaders within the party, or their own identities. Vice President Kamala Harris, the first Black woman to lead the Democratic ticket, has not ruled out another run for president — nor has her vice presidential pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who visited South Carolina in May to attend Clyburn’s World Famous Fish Fry. Joining them at that event was Maryland Gov. Wes Moore. California Rep. Ro Khanna, a prominent progressive in the party, will be visiting South Carolina in July alongside Illinois Congressman Jonathan Jackson, the son of Civil Rights Movement icon Jesse Jackson. Khanna has been in contact with Clyburn, as has former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who previously served as President Barack Obama’s chief of staff.

All of these candidates would face a crowded field that may also include former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, and Govs. JB Pritzker of Illinois, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvani,a and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan. With Democrats on the back foot in a polarized and Republican-dominated political landscape, a number of candidates are already making moves toward 2028. This early start matches the advice given by Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who told The Associated Press that potential Democratic candidates “need to be more visible earlier” and that the party’s voters “want their presidential nominee now.”

All of these Democratic hopefuls have work cut out for them if they want to convince the party’s voters and their fellow politicians that they have the vision to retake the White House and reverse many of the policies currently being put in place. In order to do so, they’ll need to win over the party’s Black voting base, and many of the candidates are starting that effort in South Carolina.
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Over two dozen state lawmakers and members of Congress toured the facility on Saturday in a visit arranged by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The visit confirmed Democrats’ complaints about the conditions of the facility and the lack of transparency surrounding its operation, even as Republicans continued to defend the site.

Detainees ‘crammed in like sardines’ with poor food and sanitation, Democrats report

Saturday’s tour of the immigration detention center came after lawmakers filed a lawsuit accusing authorities of denying them access in a “deliberate obstruction meant to hide what’s really happening behind those gates,” per a statement from lawmakers, CNN reported.

Rep. Maxwell Frost after touring “Alligator Alcatraz”:“Thirty-two bodies crammed per cage, six cages per tent. People screaming ‘Help me, I’m a U.S. citizen.’ Drinking water pumped from the same toilet they’re forced to use. It’s filth, it’s cruelty, it’s America’s name on… pic.twitter.com/FpXfZNYxCz— Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) July 12, 2025

After the tour, Democrats protested that they were only shown empty cells as well as areas such as the kitchens; they were not allowed to tour the parts of the facilities where about 900 detainees are currently being held. Even so, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz noted that the meals she saw being prepared for detainees, a “gray turkey and cheese sandwich, an apple and chips,” were meager compared to what was being served to the visiting lawmakers. “I don’t see how that could possibly sustain them nutritionally or not make them hungry, she said, according to CNN. Even though they weren’t allowed to interact with detainees, Democratic lawmakers said they heard someone yell out “I’m an American citizen!” while others cried “libertad!” (meaning “freedom” in Spanish).

Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL), Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) hold a press conference before visiting “Alligator Alcatraz” at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport on July 12, 2025, in Ochopee, Florida. Members of Congress were given their first visit to the new state-managed immigration detention facility in the Florida Everglades that officials have named “Alligator Alcatraz.” | Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Democrats also complained about the heat in which detainees are being held, and Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost noted reports from detainees’ families of nonfunctioning toilets and “feces being spread everywhere” in detainees’ cells, CNN reported. Democrats not only called out the poor conditions in which detainees were being held but also accused Republicans of attempting to cover up the worst of the site. Florida state Sen. Lori Berman complained that “legislators were taken on a dog and pony show that confirmed our concerns about human rights violations and inhumane treatment and answered none of our questions.” Wasserman Schultz reported after the visit that detainees were being kept in overcrowded cells. “They are essentially packed into cages, wall-to-wall humans, 32 detainees per cage,” she said, comparing the facility to an “internment camp,” the Independent reported.

Trump and his MAGA allies are clearly targeting more than just “criminals,” and putting them in this “Alligator Alcatraz” sends a message: Trump doesn’t think these people should have rights, humane treatment, or dignity.We’ve seen this before. This is not acceptable in a… pic.twitter.com/ZMnPZHHflN— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) July 14, 2025

Republicans defend, celebrate the harsh detention site

While Democrats called out the conditions at the detention center, Republicans continue to defend the site. Republican Florida state Sen. Blaise Ingoglia tweeted after the tour that “the rhetoric coming from Democrats does not match the reality.” He claimed that “the place is well run, safe, secure, clean and air conditioned.” Another GOP state senator, Jay Collins, claimed that the facilities were in working order and said that “this is a transitional holding facility,” according to NBC News. Republicans have been defending the quickly constructed “temporary” immigration detention center, pointing to the harsh conditions and dangerous surroundings, which have gained the site the name “Alligator Alcatraz” as an important part of Trump’s deportation policies and a deterrent for unauthorized immigrants. President Donald Trump touted the facility after he toured it earlier in July, just before it opened, boasting that it had “a lot of bodyguards and a lot of cops in the form of alligators.”

The Trump administration has been conducting a harsh immigration and deportation strategy since the president returned to the White House in January. The administration has even used law enforcement and the criminal justice system to target Democrats who have protested or attempted to examine these policies. So even as Democrats shine a light on the latest inhumane set of immigration policies pushed by Trump and the GOP, we shouldn’t expect them to adjust their policies without additional pressure from politicians and the public.
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