South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Karen Floyd today issued the following statement on last night’s primary results:

“Last night we witnessed the beginning of a Republican Renewal in South Carolina: one built around the conservative principles of economic freedom and individual liberty,” Floyd said.

“Not only did the Republican Party field twice as many statewide and federal candidates as the Democratic Party, but we set a new record for total voter turnout in a state primary. Additionally, we turned out twice as many primary voters as the Democratic Party, which speaks volumes about our field of candidates, and about the strength of our message – voters are tired of the Democratic spending spree, and are ready for conservative leadership centered on lower taxes, limited government, and individual freedom.

“The strength of our message is further evidenced by the results of our ballot questions. Republicans overwhelmingly rejected the $2.5 trillion Spratt-Pelosi-Obama nationalization of healthcare, and they resoundingly spoke in favor of limiting state spending growth. Our Party is focused like never before on issues that matter to working South Carolinians, and the opportunity to speak directly on those issues we believe was in part responsible for the large voter turnout we saw Tuesday.

“We are now heading toward the finish line of the nomination process with some upcoming runoffs. As a Party, we are going to be focused on making sure those runoffs are centered on issues and ideas, and not on any unfortunate distractions that have marred the race in recent weeks. Republicans understand that above all, our goal is winning in November, and the state Party is going to be singularly focused on that goal.”