SC Senate Filings Signal Tough Races Ahead

Policy positions are at a slim margin as elections take place going into the June 9th primaries. Republicans hold a 27-19 advantage but several GOP members manage to hold up conservative legislation. Here are a few of the races that stand out:

Several members in leadership face challenges. Whether it be within their own party or in November, powerful senators will have to break a sweat. Let’s take a look:

Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey (R-Edgefield) has a Republican challenge in the primary from longtime pro-life activist Susan Swanson of North Augusta in District 25. Massey has taken heat from conservative components of the party for his inability to push through key conservative legislation including pro-life bills. Democrat Shirley Green Frayson of Lexington is also in the race in the rural, heavily Republican district. Massey received 59% in the primary in his last re-election bid, not a dominate performance for a Majority Leader.

In District 26, Minority Leader Nikki Setzler (D-West Columbia) faces a test from the winner of the Republican Primary. Former state house candidate Perry Finch of Pelion and Real Estate Broker Chris Smith of West Columbia are facing off in the Republican Primary. Smith is also the Columbia coordinator of the National Day of Prayer. Setzler has fashioned himself as a “caring conservative” in his GOP-strong district, a feat that will be tough to pull off as he has been the point man for the Democrats leftist agenda in the senate. This district extends from Cayce/West Columbia through rural swaths and ends all the way in Aiken County.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Luke Rankin (R-Myrtle Beach) has held his heavily Republican 33rd District for many years after switching from Democrat to Republican years ago. He has been the driving force in blocking Heartbeat legislation in the senate. Rankin’s liberal tendencies have drawn a pair of primary challengers. Businessman John Gallman of Myrtle Beach and Women’s Pregnancy Center President Carter Smith of Conway are providing a stiff challenge to the powerful lawmaker. Both challengers are putting pro-life policies front-and-center in their campaigns. Rankin had a fairly close call in in the 2016 GOP primary, gathering 56% in the Grand Strand District.

A few longtime senators face stiff tests. In rural District 10, Floyd Nicholson (D-Greenwood) is attempting to hold on to the heavy Republican seat he has held since 2005. Nicholson faces the winner of the Republican matchup between Auctioneer Bryan Hope of Ninety Six – who nearly pulled off an upset against the incumbent in 2016 while lacking resources – and attorney Billy Garrett of McCormick, who has a well-funded bid pick up the seat. Hope, like many candidates, was planning to rely on door-to-door campaigning and the strategy has been halted due to the virus.

In Spartanburg’s staunchly conservative 11th district, 29-year incumbent Sen. Glenn Reese (D-Inman) faces perhaps his stiffest test yet. Radio talk show host and former Spartanburg GOP Chairman Josh Kimbrell of Boiling Springs is challenging the Krispy Kreme franchise owner who holds a great deal of personal popularity. Reese’s down-the-line left record would seem to come back to haunt him come election time and this may be the year.

Two-time losing gubernatorial candidate Vincent Sheheen (D-Camden) holds the rural District 27 seat that President Trump carried in a landslide and Sheheen himself lost in his second run against former Governor Nikki Haley. Those stats and Sheheen’s constant posturing for high-profile positions at the University of South Carolina would seem to put his seat in jeopardy. Sheheen went through the election season without opponents but former House candidate and Kershaw GOP Vice Chairwoman Penry Gustafson chose in favor of challenging Sheheen – rather than making another attempt at the house seat she ran for two years ago. This is a race to keep an eye on as Gustafson should have a lot of organizational support.

In District 18, Ronnie Cromer (R-Prosperity) faces a tough test to keep his seat from Dentist Charles Bumgardner of Lexington. Cromer, a pharmacist by trade, maintains strong support in his rural home county of Newberry, rural Union County and in the Chapin part of the district. Possible challengers have always kept an eye on Cromer due to the dense populations in Lexington County, who aren’t as in touch with Cromer as the other areas across Lake Murray. The race has not formulated on ideological grounds as of yet. Democrat Christopher Thibault of Lexington is also running in the easily Republican district.

Karl Allen (D-Greenville) of the strongly Democratic 7th District has an election to look out for. Allen faces former State Rep. Fletcher Smith in the primary. Anti-gun activist Jack Logan is running on the Republican side.

Races to keep an eye on. In the rural 40th district centered in Orangeburg, longtime Senator and master of the rules Brad Hutto (D-Orangeburg) is facing a primary challenge from Chiropractor and Insurance Claims Adjustor Michael Addington.

District 3 in heavily conservative Anderson County has a Republican matchup between Sen. Richard Cash, who is seeking his first full term after winning a special election, and County Councilman Craig Wooten. Wooten should be able to mount a strong challenge to Cash, the senate’s leading pro-life advocate. Democrat Judith Polson is the Democrat candidate.

In the lowcountry, Sen. Sandy Senn (R-James Island) was unopposed in the general election in her first term but faces a full court press in her re-election bid. Senn, one of the more moderate members of the senate, faces a challenge from a pair of Democrat Charlestonians. Democrat insider Sam Skardon and Pharmacist Jason Mills. Skardon is well-funded in the race for the rapidly-changing district that Trump won by a close margin.

Longtime incumbent Chip Campsen (R-Charleston) holds another lowcountry seat that is undergoing a swift transformation. This year, he is likely to hold the seat against Democrat Attorney Richard Hricik of Mount Pleasant, who is going all-out in the campaign.

Rural District 17 has gone through wild swings in elections in recent years, which makes this years’ contests intriguing. First-term Sen. Mike Fanning (D-Great Falls) is running for re-election as a hero of the “Red for Ed” movement and faces a tough challenge in both the primary and general elections. Fanning, who won a surprisingly close election in 2016, faces former State Rep. Mary Gail Douglas in the Democratic Primary. Should he advance, Fanning would face Chester County GOP Chairwoman Erin Mosley in the once-solidly Democrat district. As with much of rural America, the district has made a swift move towards Republicans, at least on the federal level. This race should be fun to watch.

In the Pee Dee’s District 29 based in Darlington County, Sen. Gerald Malloy (D-Hartsville) is the definite favorite for re-election in the Democrat-leaning district. Two Republicans are vying to face Malloy, Farmer J.D. Chaplin and Firefighter Ronald Reese Page, a former candidate for the state house. The district Demographic is close enough that it is worth paying attention to.

District 8 of Greenville County has a primary matchup between incumbent Ross Turner (R-Greenville) and former Simpsonville Mayor Janice Curtis, who lost her re-election in 2019. Curtis is running to the right and could make this a race under certain circumstances.

In a hotly-contested primary race in the Spartanburg County-based District 12, first-term Sen. Scott Talley (R-Moore) faces off against Mark Lynch of Greenville. Lynch is running as social conservative while hitting the incumbent on his flip-flop where he voted for the gas tax increase after opposing it. The Bible belt conservative district has had heated primary campaigns for the entire 21st century. Democratic candidate Dawn Bingham is also in the race.

In the 20th District, Dick Harpootlian (D-Columbia) is looking to hold on to the seat for his first full term. Well-known businessman Randy Dickey of Ballentine has been campaigning for the seat for months and gaining momentum. In the final day of filing, he gained strong competition. First Tuesday of the Midlands Republican Chairman Ben Dunn, an attorney who made a closer-than-expected run for the seat in 2018 has joined the race. Former Columbia City Councilman Moe Baddourah is also bidding for the seat. Baddourah was ousted in a landslide from his seat in 2019 after being suspended during his term amid domestic violence allegations.

The district – which extends from Chapin, Dutch Fork, Irmo, St. Andrews and all the way through the University of South Carolina and surrounding neighborhoods – is one of the most diverse in the state. It is statistically the most even in terms of partisanship.

There it is. It seems as though Republicans have a chance to pick up a couple of seats, but there could be ideological shifts in primaries across the state. Stay tuned for more information on the Palmetto State’s elections.

 

 

Preston Baines can be reached on twitter @prestonbaines and at prestonbaines@gmail.com.

 

 

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Edited 10-9-2020 at 10:05am