Thousands of dollars flow into Sheri Biggs, Mark Burns GOP runoff. Here's who's behind it. (2024)

ANDERSON — Tuesday's Republican runoff for an Upstate seat in Congress may be between pastor Mark Burns and Air National Guard Lt. Col. Sheri Biggs but there's no doubt Donald Trump is on the ballot, as well.

Burns, one of Trump's spiritual advisors, and Biggs finished 1-2 in the first round of voting and will square off June 25 to fill retiring U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan's seat in the most conservative House district in South Carolina.

Both outlasted five othercandidates in the first round of voting in the June 11 primary where Burns garnered 33 percent of the vote and Biggs collected 29 percent.

Their separation wasabout 3,500 votes across the 10 counties in the 3rd Congressional District.

The runoff winner will go on to face Democratic primary winner Bryon Best from Greenwood in the general election Nov. 5.

Burns has the edge of garnering the all-important Trump endorsem*nt and hopes to join the success of other MAGA-aligned South Carolina congressional Republicans including U.S. Reps. Nancy Mace of Daniel Island, William Timmons of Greenville, Joe Wilson of Lexington and Russell Fry of Myrtle Beach.

In addition to Trump, Burns, who is making his third run for Congress, has the endorsem*nt of Laurens state Rep. Stewart Jones, who finished third in the primary. "Pastor Mark Burns and I are both America First fighters, and that’s what our country needs," he said in a text message.

Who is Mark Burns?

Burns, a Christian nationalist, has attracted attention for rallying would-be rioters ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, sacking of the U.S. Capitol and suggesting that parents and educators who push a LGBTQ agenda in public schools should be jailed for treason or even executed.

"You need a pit bull, not a poodle, to go down to Washington, D.C., and represent the 3rd Congressional District," Burns said in a June 18 debate with Biggs hosted by FOX Carolina.

At that debate he deflected questions about whether he regretted lying about obtaininga Bachelor of Science degree and serving six years in the Army Reserve. CNN exposed that he exaggerated his biography on an old church website in 2016.

"I am not a transplant from Mississippi," he said, referencing Biggs. "This is my home … you're talking about something that happened 23, 20-odd years ago that has already been addressed."

The final weeks of the campaign have seen a flurry of new spending on advertising for both candidates. Several days before Primary Day on June 7, Burns took out a new, $250,000 loan from the Missouri-based Bank of Washington, adding onto the some half-million dollars in debts he’d already taken on from the bank to initiate his campaign.

Burns has also been boosted by a mysterious dark money group called Our American Century, an obscure political action committee that had heavily been involved in boosting a right-wing candidate in a competitive primary election for far-right Republican congresswoman Lauren Boebert’s seat in western Colorado.

In all, Our American Century has spent more than $9,000 on online advertisem*nts on social media promoting Burns, including several on Facebook, according to data from Meta.

According to recent reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, the group has spent roughly $50,000 in television advertisem*nts touting his “tough on China” stance and his endorsem*nt by Trump, highlighting the outpouring of support Trump received after his recent conviction on fraud charges in New York City.

Sheri Biggs faces questions on fundraising

Biggs, who has Gov. Henry McMaster's endorsem*nt, is originally from Mississippi and now lives in Seneca, a small town in Oconee County. Biggs has worked as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner and focuses on veterans' issues, but she has no previous political experience in office.

She has seen her own share of dark money involvement in the race, almost all from groups with some connection to more establishment-aligned groups in Washington, D.C.

One group, the Elect Principled Veterans Fund, has spent more than $300,000 backing Biggs, according to campaign finance reports. That group is exclusively funded by another PAC called the With Honor Fund II, whose principal donors include figures like Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos’ parents and the organization EveryTown For Gun Safety, which is closely connected to billionaire liberal philanthropist and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Another group, America Leads Action, has close ties to North Carolina conservative philanthropist Jay Faison.

Faison has donated extensively to campaign accounts tied to House Republican Leadership, former presidential candidate and Trump critic Chris Christie, former House Speakers Kevin McCarthy and Paul Ryan, and the original With Honor Fund, which shuttered after the 2020 election cycle.

The PAC was also previously involved in efforts to unseat Mace in her Lowcountry primary against former South Carolina agency head Catherine Templeton.

To-date, the group has spent nearly $40,000 in ads opposing Burns, according to campaign finance returns, ranging from social media ads to text messages largely focused on Burns’ record voting for Democratic candidates— a fact Burns has not shied from.

“Mark Burns is a longtime Democrat with a history of lies and voting for Democrats,” the group claimed in one ad published June 16. “Our Congressional seat is not a game. Reject Mark Burns in the June 25th Republican runoff.”

The sources of Biggs' support have attracted some negative attention in the district. Burns was quick to hit Biggs on her finance record during the debate June 18.

"You're talking about anti-Second Amendment, gun-grabbing Michael Bloomberg, this is what's happening right here," he said. "You should be appalled, 3rd Congressional District citizens, because Democrats are trying to spend money in our elections, in our deep red congressional seat, trying to buy a Democrat in disguise using Democrat money."

Biggs dismissed Burns' attack, saying she supported the Second Amendment.

"I don't know who Bloomberg is," Biggs said. "There are a lot of outside interests in this campaign."

Early voting for the race began June 19 and will close June 21.

Voters who voted in the June 11 primaries are limited to voting in the same party’s runoff.

Voters can check their polling place at scVOTES.gov.

Reporter Nick Reynolds contributed to this report from Columbia.