6 days Ago
COLUMBIA — Republican Joe Wilson will extend his 23-year run in the U.S. House.
The Associated Press called the race for Wilson at 8:59 p.m. on Nov.
5, with Wilson winning 65 percent of the vote to Democrat challenger David Robinson II’s 35 percent. The Charleston native will continue to represent South Carolina's Second Congressional District, which includes Aiken and Barnwell counties along with most of the Columbia suburbs . “I'm very grateful, I'm very humbled by this honor, and I look forward to working with Mike Johnson, this leader that we have,” Wilson said at an election night party in Columbia on Nov.
5. Wilson, 77, had campaigned on his track record of job creation and supporting strong foreign policy, including participating in a a delegation of more than 60 Republican members on a visit to the U.S.
's southern border earlier this year . A staunch proponent of Israel, Wilson received more than $133,000 in donations over the 2024 election cycle from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a highly influential lobbying organization that by its description works to strengthen the U.S.
-Israeli relationship on Capitol Hill. That number increased significantly this campaign cycle, following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on an Israeli music festival by Hamas that sparked open conflict between Israel and militant groups embedded in the Gaza Strip.
His reelection campaign was briefly paused in September when the congressman was hospitalized due to a medical emergency . The congressman later received a pacemaker. In his 23 years in Congress, Wilson has drawn national attention for his “You lie!” outburst during former President Barack Obama’s joint address of Congress in 2009.
Wilson has since been an ardent supporter of Donald Trump, who was forecast to win the Palmetto State over Vice President Kamala Harris at 8:01 p.m. by The Associated Press about an hour after the polls closed Nov.
5. Trump had 60 percent of the vote with about 50 percent of the state's tally reported. The South Carolina Congressman was one of 139 members of the U.
S. House of Representatives who voted to object to Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election , hours after the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
Wilson had continued to support Trump throughout the 2024 campaign. Robinson, a 54-year-old U.S.
Army veteran, had sought to upset Wilson campaigning on raising the minimum wage, lowering health care and prescription drug costs and investing in infrastructure, Robinson previously told the Aiken Standard . The Columbia native also told the Aiken Standard one of his top priorities if elected was to revive the Bipartisan Immigration Border Act of 2024, which was blocked by Senate Republicans in February . Nicholas Reynolds contributed to this report.
This story will be updated..
