Charleston GOP Sen. Sandy Senn conceded to Rep. Matt Leber, of Johns Island, Friday, June 14, 2024, in the state primary election. (File/Mary Ann Chastain/special to SC Daily Gazette)
CHARLESTON — A second of South Carolina’s GOP female senators won’t be returning to the Statehouse come January 2025.
Sen. Sandy Senn, R-Charleston, conceded to her state primary opponent, Rep. Matt Leber, R-Johns Island, in a race that turned biting at times. She trailed by just 33 votes, according to the state Election Commission.
“While losing by a small number of votes was tough, the fact is my competitor only needed to win by one vote to beat me. So, I have congratulated him, profusely thanked my supporters, and even finished cleaning up all the campaign signs already,” Senn wrote in her concession statement.
Senn was among five women in the Senate, calling themselves the “sister senators,” who voted against last year’s six-week abortion ban. They ultimately failed to block the law but were successful in filibustering a near-total ban passed by House Republicans, helping block it in the Senate by two votes.
With Sen. Penry Gustafson, R-Camden, losing in her primary race Tuesday, and now Senn officially out after waving a recount, it all but guarantees a bill to make abortions illegal from the moment a pregnancy is medically detectable will be back on the GOP agenda.
“I stand by all my votes taken in the past eight years, regretting none,” Senn said in her concession statement. “It has been a great honor to serve District 41 and I thank the citizens for giving me that opportunity.”
It’s still possible that all three Republican “sister senators” will end up losing their seats to men.
Sen. Katrina Shealy faces a June 25 run-off Carlisle Kennedy, the son of former state Rep. Ralph Kennedy, after falling shy of the more than 50% margin needed to clench the race.
Shealy, Senn and Gustafson supported banning abortion at 12 weeks of pregnancy, with certain exceptions. At six weeks, most women don’t yet know they’re pregnant.
All of the women’s opponents support a nearly full ban.
Senn’s loss could also reduce the number of women in South Carolin’a 46-member Senate to just two or three. With other female candidates unlikely to win in November’s general election, the state could once again be last in the nation for female representation in a state legislative chamber.
The post SC down a second ‘sister senator’ as Sandy Senn concedes in GOP primary appeared first on SC Daily Gazette.