South Carolina primary results: Victories declared, runoffs set as Midlands votes counted
Results are in and numerous victories have been declared in primary election races across South Carolina Tuesday night, from county councils to Congress and many races in between.
There are no statewide offices on the ballot in 2024, such as a governor’s race or U.S. Senate contest, and South Carolina held its presidential primaries for both Democrats and Republicans back in February.
Instead, voters made their choices in races for both the state House and Senate, all of the state’s congressional districts, and local offices like county councils and sheriffs. The winners of the party primaries in many places may decide who holds office come November, especially in races where the nominees won’t face general election opposition.
All votes in Richland and Lexington counties were counted before midnight.
12:35 a.m. — Two sister senators defeated
Out of the three Republican women who worked in unison to block an abortion ban with limited exceptions in 2023, two were defeated Tuesday night, and one will head to runoff.
Sen. Penry Gustafson lost to her opponent Allen Blackmon by more than 60% of the vote. Blackmon won 82% while Gustafson won 18%.
Matt Leber barely beat Sen. Sandy Senn by 31 votes. There will be a recount.
Sen. Katrina Shealy will be heading to a runoff with her Republican opponent Carlisle Kennedy.
The three sister senators were threatened with the idea that they may not come back if they went through with blocking the abortion ban in 2023, whether it was through fliers or protesting outside their churches or the state house. However, attacks on their position was unclear for some if it would really come down to whether the trio came back.
12:30 a.m. — Powerful legislators ousted
In a surprising defeat, House Assistant Majority leader Jay West was beaten by a Freedom Caucus backed candidate, Lee Gilreath, who received 64% of the vote compared to West’s 36%.
The loss was a part of a larger battle within the Republican party, which has led to infighting in the state house. Freedom Caucus candidates and House Republican candidates have been sparring at each other over the last two years, with House Republicans claiming the Freedom Caucus causes chaos and doesn’t come to Columbia to seriously legislate. The Freedom Caucus, however, says the Republican “establishment” is one of the most liberal in America, and that FC members are true conservatives.
Rep. Bill Sandifer, R-Oconee, was also ousted by his opponent, Adam Duncan. Sandifer has been in his seat since 1995, and lost by 59 votes
12:20 a.m. — Final votes are in across the Midlands
Final results are coming in across the Midlands as counties close their counts. Here are some of the other winners and losers from races in Richland and Lexington Counties.
Senate District 10: Francie Kleckley narrowly defeated Brandon Best in the Democratic Primary by just 40 votes, 1,014 to 974. Republicans Billy Garrett and Charles Bumgardner will be going to a runoff in that district. Garrett led the pack of four candidates with 5,277 votes, 41% of the total, with Bumgardner in second with 2,962 votes.
Senate District 19: With all Richland County precincts counted, incumbent Tameika Isaac Devine won a blowout victory in the Democratic primary. With 5,608 ballots cast for the Columbia lawyer, she secured almost 92% of the vote to 8% won by Michael Addison.
Senate District 35: Former Mayor of Camden Jeffrey Graham will be going to a runoff against educator Dr. Austin Floyd Jr. in the Democratic primary. Graham won 2,412 votes, 47% of the total, while Floyd captured 1,939 votes, making up 38%. Republican candidates Mike Jones and Lindsay Agostini will also be going to runoff. Jones won just under 50% of the vote, while Agostini trailed in third with 30% of the vote.
House District 39: Incumbent Rep. Cal Forrest won a commanding 81% of the vote in the Republican primary against Katie Hall, who had 959 votes to Forrest’s 4,221.
House District 70: Robert Reese has narrowly won the Democratic primary, with 50.47% of the vote. Reese secured 1,389 of 2,752 votes cast, just 12 more than what he needed to avoid a runoff. South Carolina election rules state that a candidate can avoid a runoff if they will 50% of the total plus one vote.
House District 72: Incumbent Seth Rose won a commanding victory in the Democratic primary against Tate Few, securing 91% of the vote. The Columbia-lawyer won 1,498 votes to Few’s 143.
House District 75: Kirkman Finlay is one step close to regaining his seat after a decisive victory over Tracy Robins. With 1,864 votes, Finlay won 66% of the total votes to Robin’s 979 votes.
11:20 p.m. — ‘Sister Senator’ is headed for a runoff
Republican state Sen. Katrina Shealy will face a runoff for a chance to keep her Senate seat representing parts of Lexington County. With 97% of the precincts reporting in the Republican primary, Shealy led with 40%, compared to challenger Carlisle Kennedy’s 36%. The third Republican challenger, Zoe Warren, received 23%.
Because no one received more than 50% of the votes, Shealy and Kennedy will compete in a runoff election in two weeks, June 25. There are no Democrats running for the seat in the November election, so the winner between Shealy and Kennedy will be the likely victor in the general election.
11 p.m. — Richland County totals are in
Newcomer Tyra Little and incumbent Cheryl English have won the Democratic primary races for Richland County Council District 3 and District 10, respectively.
Little defeated Christa Williams by a margin of 60% to 40%, according to unofficial results reported via SCVotes.gov. English similarly defeated challenger DeAnta Reese by a margin of 61% to 39%.
Neither race has a Republican challenger in November.
In a Richland County race for a state Senate nomination, state Rep. Ivory Thigpen and Richland County Councilman Overture Walker are headed to a runoff to decide the winner of District 22 Democratic primary. As of 10:30 p.m., Thigpen led the race with 42.89% of votes, with 100% of precincts reporting. Walker received 40.34% of the vote, and third-place candidate Monica Elkins had received 16.77%.
Because neither candidate won more than 50% of the votes, Thigpen and Walker will compete in a runoff election in two weeks, on June 25.
10:50 p.m. — At least one incumbent is voted out on Lexington County Council
At least one member of Lexington County Council is out with the final votes being counted in Tuesday’s primary race.
As of 10:37 p.m., former Springdale Mayor Michael Bishop defeated incumbent Councilman Scott Whetstone in preliminary results Tuesday. Bishop led Whetstone by 52% to 48% with all precincts reporting in the 1st District, covering the Gaston-Pelion-Swansea area.
Elsewhere, Clifford Fisher is looking to add another new face to County Council with a 20-point lead over Councilman Gene “Bimbo” Jones in the 5th District, with 93% of the vote in from the Red Bank-area district.
Incumbents Charli Wessinger and Darrell Hudson looked set to return to County Council, and Todd Cockrell is set to join them with a win over Doug Leonard in the open 4th District.
In the Lexington County sheriff’s race, incumbent Sheriff Jay Koon maintained a commanding lead over competitors Billy Warren and Alan Driggers, with 95% of precincts reporting their votes. Koon had captured roughly two-thirds of the vote.
“Lexington County spoke loud and clear,” the sheriff said. “These last nine years, we’ve done what we needed to do. I think it was about three things: experience, relationships and results. And I think certainly, these nine years we’ve been through, we showed we had the experience to do it. It was about relationships.”
10 p.m. — Ott declares victory over Harpootlian
Shortly before 10 p.m., state Rep. Russell Ott declared victory in the Democratic primary for state Senate District 26, in a speech to his supporters at Savage Craft Ale Works in West Columbia. His campaign said at that point they felt confident in Ott’s lead over state Sen. Dick Harpootlian.
As of 10:25 p.m., votes reported on SCVotes.gov showed Ott leading with 2,100 votes to Harpootlian’s 1,935 votes.
“Hard work pays off,” Ott said. “Tonight we’re going to celebrate.”
The crowd of about 40 cheered loudly as the state representative from Calhoun County announced his win.
Throughout the closely watched race, Harpootlian accused Ott of holding position out of step with the Democratic Party, including voting for an abortion ban and constitutional carry.
In his speech, Ott said that his win showed “folks don’t have a problem when you have to compromise to get things done.”
Tyler Jones, Harpo’s general consultant, said Harpootlian will not make a statement this evening. Harpootlian is expected to speak at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
9:55 p.m. — Finlay, Devine looking strong
Kirkman Finlay is winning over Tracy Robins in the Republican race for state House of Representatives District 75. Finlay leads with 1,449 votes to Robins’ 826 votes as of 9:50 p.m.
Democratic state Sen. Tameika Isaac Devine has 4,25,568 46 votes compared to challenger Michael Addison’s 494 votes in the race for State Senate District 19.
Ivory Thigpen remains the frontrunner in the Democratic race for state Senate District 22, with 2,132 votes. But Richland County Councilman Overture Walker is close behind with 2,021 votes as of 9:50 p.m., while Richland 2 school board member Monica Elkins trails in third.
In the Republican primary for state Senate District 23, Katrina Shealy leads with 3,121 votes. Carlisle Kennedy trails with 2,754 votes.
9:25 p.m. — Early counts in Lexington County
It’s a mixed result so far in Lexington County for incumbent members of Lexington County Council. Councilmen Scott Whetstone and Gene “Bimbo” Jones are trailing to challengers Michael Bishop and Clifford Fisher, respectively. Councilwoman Charli Wessinger and Councilman Darrell Hudson are maintaining early leads in both of their races, over Jason Resnick and Brent Munnerlyn. Todd Cockrell leads Doug Leonard in the open 4th District.
In the sheriff’s race, Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon looks to be cruising to another four-year term with a large lead over challengers Billy Warren and Alan Driggers in the GOP primary. Shortly after 9 p.m., Koon delivered a victory speech., though fewer than half of all precincts had reported their votes yet.
9:15 p.m. — Ott vs. Harpootlian update
As of 9:05 p.m., and after a large report of Calhoun County votes were posted on the SCVotes.gov website, state Rep. Russell Ott took a 60% to 40% lead over state Sen. Dick Harpootlian in the Democratic primary for state Senate District 26. However, only 345 votes have been reported in Richland County.
9 p.m. — Early results in state Senate races and Richland County Council
Results are trickling in for a trio of state Senate districts covering parts of Richland and Lexington counties:
In the Democratic race for Richland County’s Senate District 19, Tameika Isaac Devine is leading with 2,600 votes to Michael Addison’s 235, with roughly 32% of precincts reporting as of about 8:30 p.m.
In the Democratic race for Richland County’s Senate District 22, Ivory Thigpen is leading with 1,517 votes. Overture Walker trails with 1,406 votes and Monica Elkins lags with 586 votes, with roughly 23% of precincts reporting.
In the Democratic race for Senate District 26 covering parts of Richland, Lexington and Calhoun counties, Russell Ott leads Dick Harpootlian with 1,726 to 1,495 votes with 33% of precincts reporting.
Two races for Richland County Council are contentious this primary. Tyra Little and Christa Williams, both new to county politics, are vying to represent District 3 as Democrats. In District 10, newcomer Democrat DeAnta Reese is challenging incumbent Cheryl English.
Early results as of about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday have Little leading the District 3 race with 755 votes to Williams’ 493 votes. In District 10, English leads with 600 votes to Reese’s 333.
8:40 p.m. — Victory for Nancy Mace
Second-term Republican U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace has won the GOP primary in the coastal 1st District, the AP has called.
Nance has defeated former state labor secretary and governor candidate Catherine Templeton, with Republican challenger Bill Young far behind.
Mace will face one of two Democrats in the Charleston-centric district, which was redrawn after the 2020 census to make it more favorable to Republicans. Mace unseated Democratic Rep. Joe Cunningham that year, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to order a redraw of the 1st District over claims of racial gerrymandering earlier this year.
8:30 p.m. — Joe Wilson wins again
U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-Springdale, has won the GOP nomination for another term in Congress.
The Associated Press called Wilson’s race at 8:15 p.m. Tuesday night, with the long-term Midlands congressman defeating challenger Hamp Redmond by a wide margin.
Wilson will face one of Democrat David Robinson, who won a primary over Daniel Shrief, in the 2nd District in November as he seeks another term in the House of Representatives. Wilson has held the seat since 2001. It covers Aiken and Lexington counties, and parts of Barnwell, Orangeburg and Richland counties.
