Earlier this morning, I had an exclusive* interview with Curtis Bostic, one of two candidates in a run-off for the Republican nomination to replace now-Senator Tim Scott in South Carolina’s CD-01.  Bostic came in second in the initial round of primary voting last week, forcing top finisher Mark Sanford into a runoff.  Sanford at one time held this seat, prior to his two terms as governor and prior to the scandal that pushed him out of public service at the end of his second term.  Bostic beat a crowded field that included Ted Turner’s son and a number of other Republicans to square off against Sanford; Bostic joked with me that there were so many candidates that the Post Office assigned the field “our own zip code.”

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We discuss the conservative nature of the field and the relative lack of daylight between Bostic and Sanford on the issues. Bostic points to endorsements by both Rick Santorum and Ann Coulter (last night on Twitter) to argue that he is the broader conservative across both fiscal and social policy. We also discussed briefly his role in attracting businesses like Verizon and Boeing to South Carolina, and the electability argument raised by the PPP poll this week.

The run-off is next Tuesday, and Bostic has to make up considerable ground from the first round to pass Sanford. He’s getting plenty of attention, though, and may be poised to pull off a surprise.

* – Using the media definition of “exclusive,” which is that there was no one else on the phone call.