Republican Elizabeth Moffly, one of a number of candidates running for the open seat in South Carolina’s 1st District, loaned her campaign $200,000 Wednesday, a source close to the campaign told CQ Roll Call.

Moffly, a Charleston County schoolboard trustee and owner of some local businesses, is currently the only woman in a crowded GOP field for the seat vacated by now-Sen. Tim Scott, a Republican.

The loan, while not a huge amount of money for the race, at least gives Moffly the potential to become competitive.

She launched her campaign last week and joins a long list of GOP hopefuls including former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford; state Rep. Chip Limehouse; Teddy Turner, the son of TV mogul Ted Turner; state Sen. Larry Grooms and former state Sen. John Kuhn, among others.

Although the district is comfortably Republican, there are two Democrats running, one of whom is the sister of comedian Stephen Colbert.

Filing for the race closes on Jan. 28 at noon.

The primary will be held on March 19. An April 2 runoff is expected because no candidate is likely to get more than 50 percent of the vote in such a crowded field. The special election will be held May 7.