The
South Carolina Democratic Party held its
primary for governor on August 28 and
Martin Frederick Ansel emerged as the frontrunner. Ansel was vocal in his opposition to the
Dispensary system set up by
Ben Tillman and instead favored the local county option established by the Bryce law in 1904. His chief rival, progressive reformer
Richard Irvine Manning III, sought to maintain a statewide Dispensary and work to remove all the corrupt officials in it. The public sentiment at the time felt that nobody with even the best intentions could clean up the Dispensary and therefore Ansel won the Democratic
runoff on September 11 against Manning. He essentially became the next governor of South Carolina because there was no opposition in the general election.
