Incumbent politicians won several big victories on Tuesday as voters across South Carolina went to the polls for primary elections.
Congressman Mark Sanford beat back a challenge from State Rep. Jenny Horne in the Republican primary for South Carolina's 1st Congressional District. Sanford received 56 percent of the vote to Horne's 44 percent. The congressman faces a rematch against 2014 opponent Dimitri Cherny in November.
Sanford said he was “thankful for the Lowcountry Republicans giving me the opportunity to fight against the big spenders in Washington," in an interview Tuesday with The Post and Courier, the largest newspaper in the district. Horne, meanwhile, was proud of the race she ran.
"I stuck to Rep. Sanford's voting record and to the issues that I disagree with him about," Horne said.
Congressman Mick Mulvaney scored a big victory in his primary fight, beating challenger Ray Craig with 78 percent of the vote in the race for the Republican nomination in South Carolina's 5th Congressional District. Craig is a former intern to the late South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond and asserted Mulvaney was too conservative to represent the district that elected Democrat John Spratt to 14 straight terms before Mulvaney unseated Spratt in 2010.
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott won re-election to a sixth term in the Democratic primary by defeating former South Carolina Law Enforcement agent James Flowers with 75 percent of the vote. There is no Republican candidate in November, which ensures that Lott will continue to run the state's largest sheriff's department.
Four state senators will face run-off elections for re-nomination by their parties on June 28 as they did not capture 50 percent of the vote on Tuesday.
Larry Martin (R-Pickens), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, will face former State Rep. Rex Rice in District 2. Mike Fair (R-Greenville), a former USC quarterback, finished behind former prosecutor William Timmons in District 6, but Timmons failed to win a majority of the vote.
Lee Bright (R-Spartanburg), who has made headlines with his support for the Confederate flag and his sponsorship of the so-called "bathroom bill," received only 38 percent of the vote in the District 12 primary and will face former State Rep. Scott Talley in a run-off. Creighton Coleman (D-Fairfield) fell just short of an outright victory when he received 49 percent of the vote in District 17. Runner-up Mike Fanning received 45 percent of the vote.
Four state representatives lost to their primary challengers, including Ralph Kennedy (R-Lexington), who lost to challenger Cal Forrest by only 650 votes.
The state will recount ballots in the contest for the Democratic nomination in South Carolina's 2nd Congressional District. Richland Library librarian Arik Bjorn, a USC School of Library and Information Science alumnus, finished just 49 votes ahead of challenger Phil Black.
In Richland County, the Democratic primary determined the makeup of the county council as there are no Republican candidates for the six council seats up for election. Yvonne McBride and Gwen Kennedy won the open seats representing District 3 and District 7. District 9 Councilwoman Julie-Ann Dixon lost her seat to challenger Calvin Jackson and James Manning will continue to represent District 8. The District 10 race will come down to a run-off between Dahli Myers and Bernice Scott.
It was the opposite in Lexington County, where the Republican primary will shape the county council with no Democrats on the ballot. Incumbent county councilors Jim Kinard and Kent Collins were ousted in District 1 and District 3. Debbie Summers will continue to represent District 4. Councilman Bobby Keisler won the District 5 primary by just 38 votes.
There will be run-off elections for four positions in Lexington County — Clerk of Court between Lisa Comer and Emily Hinson; Register of Deeds between Rich Bolen and Tina Guerry; County Council District 3 between Darrell Hudson and Brad Matthews and County Council District 6 between Erin Long Bergeson and Dino Teppara.
Turnout was extremely low on Tuesday as just 14 percent of the state's registered voters cast ballots in the primaries.