COLUMBIA, SC — A review of public calendars and event photographs has revealed that Rep. Dwight Scofield (R) has attended fourteen prayer breakfasts in the past eighteen months, a pace that represents a 600% increase over his non-election-year average of two per cycle and that his opponents are calling “the most aggressive breakfast schedule in South Carolina political history.”

Scofield, who is facing a competitive primary challenge in June, was photographed last Saturday at the Palmetto Faith Leaders’ Prayer Breakfast in Columbia with his head bowed, his eyes closed, and his campaign yard sign visible through the window behind him. His office said the sign’s placement was “coincidental.”

“Congressman Scofield has always valued the prayer breakfast tradition,” said spokesperson Megan Diaz. When asked why he attended zero prayer breakfasts in 2023 and 2024, Diaz described those years as “a season of private devotion.”

“I’ve organized this breakfast for twelve years. He came once, in 2020. Now he’s here every month. He hugged the pastor. He’s never met the pastor.”

Event organizer Denise Waller, 61, offered the above comment, adding that Scofield requested a seat “near the front, where the cameras are” and brought his own photographer, who she described as “very fast with the flash.”

Primary challenger Laura Henning responded by releasing her own prayer breakfast attendance records, which show consistent quarterly appearances dating back to 2019. “I go because I believe in prayer,” Henning told reporters. “He goes because he believes in optics. The Lord knows the difference, and so does the Rotary Club.”

At press time, Scofield’s campaign had announced he would be attending a sunrise prayer vigil, a midday interfaith luncheon, and an evening Bible study, all on the same Saturday, in three different counties.