ELECTION RESULTS: Primary voters pick candidates for November showdowns (2024)

By Patrick Phillips, Steven Ardary, Jeffrey Collins and Nick Reagan

Published: Jun. 11, 2024 at 3:45 AM EDT|Updated: Jun. 12, 2024 at 12:48 AM EDT

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC/AP) - Despite an expected low voter turnout for South Carolina’s primaries, voters decided several key races for both Republicans and Democrats, including the hotly-contested First Congressional District.

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U.S. House First Congressional District

The AP declared Nancy Mace the winner of the Republican nomination just before 9 p.m. Mace had 58% of the vote. She bested fellow Republicans Catherine Templeton, the former director of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, who amassed 29% of the vote and William Young, a Marine veteran, who pulled in 14%.

Mace told supporters after she was declared the winner that she works for the people of South Carolina, not for Washington.

“You want to see the real power? All you have to do is look in the mirror. You the people are the power. It’s not in Washington, you hold it in the tip of your hand,” she said.

Mace says she plans to continue serving on the House Arms Services Committee, stay as Chairman of the Cyber Security Committee and focus on women’s issues if she wins in November.

She also acknowledged former President Donald Trump, who endorsed her this year, and said South Carolina would have his back this November.

As of about 9:10 p.m., the AP called the Democratic primary for Businessman and former International African American Museum CEO Michael Moore, who had a 55% to 45% lead over Mac Deford, a Citadel graduate and lawyer for a couple of the larger bedroom communities in the district.

“Tonight we celebrate a significant milestone, and I’m deeply honored to stand before you as the Democratic candidate nominee for Congress in the First Congressional District,” Moore told his supporters.

He said his campaign has been about “advocating for the issues that matter most to the people of South Carolina.”

“We’ve been unwavering in our commitment to women’s reproductive freedom, advocating for a woman’s absolute right over her own body and health care. We’ve pushed for an economy that works for everyone, not just the privileged few because every working family deserves a fair shot at the American Dream,” he said.

He said his campaign has championed quality and affordable healthcare, public schools, protecting the environment and “common sense” gun reforms.

U.S. House Sixth Congressional District

The race for U.S. House District 6 in the Republican primary has attorney Duke Buckner with 56% of the vote to welder Justin Scott’s 44% as of 9:25 p.m.

The winner faces Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, who is seeking a 17th term in the state’s majority-minority district that is bounded by areas around Charleston, Beaufort and Columbia.

Lowcountry Sheriff’s Races

In the Charleston County Sheriff’s race, about three hundred votes separate the two top GOP vote-getters, Citadel graduate and Marine Corps Reserves veteran Greg Kitchens, who had 44% of the vote, and Former Mount Pleasant Police Chief and current Town Council Member Carl Ritchie, who had 42%. Rick Keys and Rocky Burke trailed with 8% and 6% respectively.

A runoff between Kitchens and Ritchie will likely determine who will face incumbent Democratic Sheriff Kristin Graziano in November.

In Dorchester County, Sam Richardson has a solid lead in the Republican primary for sheriff with 74% compared with Mike Turner’s 26%. But on the Democratic side for that race, it’s much tighter: Charles Frederick III had 51% of the vote with Trumaine Moorer less than 100 votes behind with 49%.

Incumbent Orangeburg County Sheriff Leroy Ravenell has 78% of the vote over challenger Bubba Johnson, who has 22%.

State Senate District 41 - Republican Primary

In South Carolina State Senate District 41, as of 9:55 p.m. incumbent Republican Sandy Senn trailed challenger Matt Leber by less than 40 votes, with each showing about 50% of the vote.

Senn has attacked Leber’s run-ins with the law, while Leber has called Senn a Republican in name only for voting against the state’s proposed 6-week abortion ban.

Leber says Senn has mischaracterized law enforcement reports that mention him. Meanwhile, Senn says Leber’s statement about her voting record does not reflect her pro-life stance.

Senn says her position on abortion has always been to ban abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy – much earlier than other conservative leaders like Trump, who says he supports a ban at 15 weeks.

State Senate District 42 - Democratic Primary

Despite a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division investigation into incumbent Democrat Sen. Deon Tedder in connection with a 2022 rape allegation, an allegation Tedder has steadfastly denied, Tedder easily defeated opponent Kim Greene.

Tedder finished the primary with 83% of the vote to Greene’s 17%.

There is no Republican candidate in the general election. Tedder won a special election earlier this year to earn his senate seat. He was previously in the House of Representatives.

While most people’s attention naturally goes to the presidential race in November, South Carolina’s primaries carry a lot of weight. While there are no statewide races in the Palmetto State this year, all 170 seats in the legislature will be up, along with many county and local races, for positions like sheriff and solicitor.

Just in the last few months, decisions made at the State House have affected how much South Carolinians pay in taxes, how much money goes toward fixing their roads, and whether they need any training to carry a gun.

In any races that end with runoffs, voters can only vote in a runoff election for the same party they voted for during the primary itself. In other words, a voter who cast a ballot in the Republican primary on Tuesday cannot vote in a Democratic runoff and vice versa.

Runoff elections will take place on June 25.