Bright came into the race with only two other challengers at the time. Failed congressional candidate, Richard Cash, and the heir apparent-Nancy Mace, who performed badly in interviews.
You really don’t understand all the factors in this race. Per dollar spent, Bright outperformed every other candidate by a landslide. He was the only one running aggressively against LG. Two others were probably running to establish name ID for future smaller races, and they stayed “above it all” and did nothing to make anyone mad….but they sure as heck weren’t running hard.
You’re right about Mace. Cash suffers huge lack of charisma.