South Carolina state Sens. Penry Gustafson, right, and Sandy Senn, are greeted by abortion rights supporters at the South Carolina Statehouse on May 23, 2023 in Columbia, South Carolina. (File/ Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA — One of South Carolina’s “sister senators” definitely won’t return to the upper chamber next year, and the re-election fate of her two GOP “sisters” isn’t yet known.
Sen. Penry Gustafson, R-Camden, was trounced by Allen Blackmon, a Lancaster County Councilman from rural Heath Springs. Preliminary results showed Blackmon took 82% percent of the vote, according to the state Election Commission.
Gustafson is among the chambers’ five female senators, who called themselves “sister senators,” who voted against last year’s six-week abortion ban. While they ultimately lost their bid to block the final version, they were successful in helping defeat the near-total ban passed by House Republicans that would have made abortions illegal from the moment a pregnancy is medically detectable. All three of the Republican female senators faced primary challenges.
Gustafson came to office in 2020, ousting former incumbent Vincent Sheheen — a 16-year senator who was twice Democrats’ gubernatorial nominee — by 2 percentage points. She was among three Republicans that November who flipped Senate seats long held by Democrats, giving the Senate GOP caucus a 14-seat advantage.
The highly contested race between Sen. Sandy Senn, R-Charleston, and challenger Matt Leber could be heading toward an automatic recount. As of 11 p.m. Tuesday, Leber had just 31 more votes than Senn.
The Senate’s only chairwoman, Sen. Katrina Shealy, held the lead over her two challengers. But the Lexington Republican was short of the more than 50% necessary to clench the race. She’ll likely face a runoff against Carlisle Kennedy, the son of former state Rep. Ralph Kennedy, who was ousted in a GOP primary in 2016.
In 2021, Senn was the only Republican in the Senate who voted against the Legislature’s first six-week ban, which temporarily took effect in summer 2022 — after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade — and was thrown out in January 2023 as violating the state constitution.
In February 2023, Republicans Gustafson and Shealy initially voted for the Senate version of the next six-week ban, before helping defeat the House version and ultimately voting against the bill signed by Gov. Henry McMaster.
Freedom Caucus
In the House, an ultra-right faction of the Republican party — the House Freedom Caucus — appeared likely to pick up a couple seats held by main party incumbents, with several other races looking destined for a runoff with majority Republicans.
The Freedom Caucus appeared to have flipped the seat held by long-time incumbent Rep. Bill Sandifer, R-Seneca.
Preliminary results showed the chairman of the House Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee down by less than 60 votes. Sandifer, who has been in office for nearly 30 years, was challenged by Adam Duncan, a wrestling coach from Seneca who has not previously held office.
Early results, with only about two-thirds of votes counted, also showed a Freedom Caucus candidate with a commanding lead over Assistant Majority Leader Jay West, R-Belton.
Other interesting races
In the crowded run for the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Thomas McElveen, D-Sumter, run-offs appeared possible in both the Democrat and Republican primaries, with no one candidate garnering more than 50% of the vote as of 11 p.m.
The race for Democrat-turned-Independent Sen. Mia McLeod’s seat also is expected to result in a run-off, with Rep. Ivory Thigpen, D-Columbia, trying to make the move to the Senate against Richland County Councilman Overture Walker.
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