In June, defense contractor and conservative state Rep. Katie Arrington unseated Trump critic and GOP Rep. Mark Sanford in the Republican primary, 51 percent to 47 percent. Ten days later, Arrington suffered serious injuries in a car accident that left another person dead, putting the fall campaign on hold. But now the race is back on, and Democrats could capitalize on a powerful Lowcountry wedge issue: offshore drilling.

Arrington underwent multiple surgeries for rib and spinal fractures and left the hospital on July 6. As tragic as the incident was, the extensive local media coverage of Arrington's trauma and recovery likely boosted the GOP nominee's name ID significantly. But Democratic attorney and ocean engineer Joe Cunningham, who suspended his campaign while Arrington was in the hospital, has room to grow.

This coastal, highly college-educated Lowcountry district voted for President Trump 53 percent to 41 percent, but it's full of northern transplants who have relocated to Hilton Head and the Charleston suburbs and consider themselves moderate Republicans. Democrats believe Cunningham's path involves cobbling together a coalition of energized Democrats and moderate,

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