The SCGOP today hosted a Back the Blue rally in downtown Greenville with guest speakers Greenville County Sheriff Hobart Lewis and South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson.
Sheriff Lewis described the event as a voter initiative.
"This is a kind of a voter drive, voter initiative, Back the Blue event for us, obviously hoping people will come out and support law enforcement," Lewis said.
He referenced the long line in front of County Square and said it was a demonstration of people's drive to participate in the election.
"People are excited to vote, they want to come out and vote, they want to participate because they know how important this election is," Lewis said.
"We got to make sure, even if you don't like a candidate, if you believe in conservative values and you believe in supporting law enforcement, you just have to push that side of the ballot," Lewis said. "It's a critical time for us. 2020 has been such a strange year. Now we're getting to the end of it, and it's going to end with an election one way or the other."
AG Wilson said he backs the Republican party because the Republican party backs law enforcement.
"I don't want to defund the police. I don't want to support anyone that's going to defund the police, and I don't want to support anyone that's going to give the majority party the power to have radicals defund the police," Wilson said.
"The only way to protect all South Carolinians is to put people in the positions of power that are going to support our law enforcement because those men and women are risking their lives every single day. We need to have more police in more communities protecting those citizens, not less," Wilson said.
While the event was prepared by the SCGOP and targeted a right-wing audience, Sheriff Lewis made a point to thank all voters.
"No matter which you vote, we appreciate you participating," Lewis said. "We thank them for their vote; we thank them for their participation. This is what makes America great."