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Lee Bright
Lee Bright (Republican Party) is running in a special election to the South Carolina State Senate to represent District 12. He is on the ballot in the special Republican primary on October 21, 2025.[source]
Bright (Republican Party) was a member of the South Carolina State Senate, representing District 12. He assumed office in 2008. He left office in 2016.
Biography
Bright's professional experience includes owning On Time Transportation.[1]
Committee assignments
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Bright served on the following committees:
South Carolina committee assignments, 2015 |
---|
• Banking and Insurance |
• General |
• Judiciary |
• Labor, Commerce and Industry |
• Medical Affairs |
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Bright served on the following committees:
South Carolina committee assignments, 2013 |
---|
• Banking and Insurance |
• General |
• Judiciary |
• Labor, Commerce and Industry |
• Medical Affairs |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Bright served on the following committees:
South Carolina committee assignments, 2011 |
---|
• Agriculture and Natural Resources |
• General |
• Judiciary |
• Labor, Commerce and Industry |
• Transportation |
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Bright served on the following committees:
South Carolina committee assignments, 2009 |
---|
• Agriculture and Natural Resources |
• General |
• Judiciary |
• Labor, Commerce and Industry |
• Transportation |
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2025
See also: South Carolina state legislative special elections, 2025
General election
The primary will occur on October 21, 2025. The general election will occur on December 23, 2025. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.
Democratic primary election
Special Democratic primary for South Carolina State Senate District 12
Sundra Proctor Smith is running in the special Democratic primary for South Carolina State Senate District 12 on October 21, 2025.
Candidate | ||
Sundra Proctor Smith |
![]() | ||||
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Republican primary election
Special Republican primary for South Carolina State Senate District 12
Hope Blackley, Justin Bradley, and Lee Bright are running in the special Republican primary for South Carolina State Senate District 12 on October 21, 2025.
![]() | ||||
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Endorsements
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2024
See also: South Carolina State Senate elections, 2024
General election
General election for South Carolina State Senate District 12
Roger Nutt defeated Octavia Amaechi in the general election for South Carolina State Senate District 12 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | Roger Nutt (R) ![]() | 64.0 | 36,715 |
![]() | Octavia Amaechi (D) | 35.8 | 20,545 | |
Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 70 |
Total votes: 57,330 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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Republican primary runoff election
Republican primary runoff for South Carolina State Senate District 12
Roger Nutt defeated Lee Bright in the Republican primary runoff for South Carolina State Senate District 12 on June 25, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | Roger Nutt ![]() | 51.2 | 3,168 |
![]() | Lee Bright | 48.8 | 3,025 |
Total votes: 6,193 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Octavia Amaechi advanced from the Democratic primary for South Carolina State Senate District 12.
Republican primary election
Republican primary for South Carolina State Senate District 12
Lee Bright and Roger Nutt advanced to a runoff. They defeated Hope Blackley and Skip Davenport in the Republican primary for South Carolina State Senate District 12 on June 11, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | Lee Bright | 36.5 | 4,186 |
✔ | ![]() | Roger Nutt ![]() | 23.2 | 2,656 |
Hope Blackley | 22.0 | 2,520 | ||
Skip Davenport | 18.3 | 2,091 |
Total votes: 11,453 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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Campaign finance
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Bright in this election.
2018
General election
General election for U.S. House South Carolina District 4
William Timmons defeated Brandon Brown and Guy Furay in the general election for U.S. House South Carolina District 4 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | William Timmons (R) | 59.6 | 145,321 |
![]() | Brandon Brown (D) | 36.6 | 89,182 | |
![]() | Guy Furay (American Party) | 3.8 | 9,203 | |
Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 244 |
Total votes: 243,950 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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Democratic primary runoff election
Democratic primary runoff for U.S. House South Carolina District 4
Brandon Brown defeated Lee Turner in the Democratic primary runoff for U.S. House South Carolina District 4 on June 26, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | Brandon Brown | 62.1 | 7,097 |
Lee Turner | 37.9 | 4,340 |
Total votes: 11,437 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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Republican primary runoff election
Republican primary runoff for U.S. House South Carolina District 4
William Timmons defeated Lee Bright in the Republican primary runoff for U.S. House South Carolina District 4 on June 26, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | William Timmons | 54.3 | 37,096 |
![]() | Lee Bright | 45.7 | 31,236 |
Total votes: 68,332 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House South Carolina District 4
Lee Turner and Brandon Brown advanced to a runoff. They defeated Eric Graben, Will Morin III, and J.T. Davis in the Democratic primary for U.S. House South Carolina District 4 on June 12, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | Lee Turner | 29.5 | 7,070 | |
✔ | ![]() | Brandon Brown | 28.5 | 6,833 |
Eric Graben | 25.7 | 6,174 | ||
![]() | Will Morin III ![]() | 9.1 | 2,192 | |
![]() | J.T. Davis | 7.2 | 1,733 |
Total votes: 24,002 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Chris Chastain (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House South Carolina District 4
The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. House South Carolina District 4 on June 12, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | Lee Bright | 25.0 | 16,742 |
✔ | ![]() | William Timmons | 19.2 | 12,885 |
![]() | Dan Hamilton | 18.6 | 12,494 | |
![]() | Josh Kimbrell | 11.1 | 7,465 | |
James Epley | 8.0 | 5,386 | ||
![]() | Stephen Brown | 7.6 | 5,078 | |
![]() | Shannon Pierce | 3.6 | 2,442 | |
![]() | Mark Burns | 2.5 | 1,662 | |
Claude Schmid | 2.1 | 1,415 | ||
Dan Albert | 0.8 | 510 | ||
John Marshall Mosser | 0.7 | 457 | ||
Justin David Sanders | 0.5 | 354 | ||
![]() | Barry Bell | 0.3 | 200 |
Total votes: 67,090 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Jordan Brown (R)
- J. Alan Ruff (R)
Endorsements
Bright was endorsed in the election by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).[2]
2016
Elections for the South Carolina State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election took place on June 14, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The primary runoff election was held on June 28, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was March 30, 2016.
Scott Talley ran unopposed in the South Carolina State Senate District 12 general election.[3][4]
South Carolina State Senate, District 12 General Election, 2016 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
Republican | ![]() |
100.00% | 41,352 | |
Total Votes | 41,352 | |||
Source: South Carolina State Election Commission |
Scott Talley defeated incumbent Lee Bright in the South Carolina State Senate District 12 Republican primary runoff.[5]
South Carolina State Senate, District 12 Republican Primary Runoff, 2016 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
Republican | ![]() |
51.59% | 4,861 | |
Republican | Lee Bright Incumbent | 48.41% | 4,562 | |
Total Votes | 9,423 | |||
Source: South Carolina State Election Commission |
Incumbent Lee Bright and Scott Talley defeated David McCraw and Lisa Scott in the South Carolina State Senate District 12 Republican primary.[6][7]
South Carolina State Senate, District 12 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
Republican | ![]() |
37.69% | 3,681 | |
Republican | ![]() |
26.56% | 2,594 | |
Republican | David McCraw | 22.95% | 2,241 | |
Republican | Lisa Scott | 12.80% | 1,250 | |
Total Votes | 9,766 | |||
Source: South Carolina State Election Commission |
2014
Bright ran for the United States Senate in 2014. He is challenged Lindsey Graham in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate seat in South Carolina.[8][9][10]
He was defeated by incumbent Lindsey Graham in the Republican primary on June 10, 2014.[11]
Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
56.4% | 178,093 | ||
Lee Bright | 15.4% | 48,704 | ||
Richard Cash | 8.3% | 26,246 | ||
Det Bowers | 7.3% | 23,071 | ||
Nancy Mace | 6.2% | 19,560 | ||
Bill Connor | 5.3% | 16,847 | ||
Benjamin Dunn | 1% | 3,195 | ||
Total Votes | 315,716 | |||
Source: Results via Associated Press |
AR-15 raffle
In January 2014, Bright announced via an email to supporters that he would raffle off an AR-15 gun on February 15, 2014. Bright wrote in the email:
- "In the wake of the horrific tragedy in Newtown, Conn., gun-grabbers were sure they had the votes to ram gun control into law. Thanks to the action of Second Amendment supporters all over the country, their scheme failed — even despite my Republican primary opponent, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham."[12]
2012
Bright won election in the 2012 election for South Carolina State Senate District 12. Bright defeated John Hawkins in the June 12 Republican primary and defeated Henri Thompson (D) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[13][14][15][16]
Note: Henri Thompson was also on the ballot as a Working Families Party candidate, and won 1,367 of his vote total on this ticket.
Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
---|---|---|
![]() |
60.6% | 4,144 |
John Hawkins | 39.4% | 2,689 |
Total Votes | 6,833 |
2008
Bright won election for District 12 of the South Carolina State Senate with 30,559, ahead of all write-ins, which collectively earned 983.[17]
Bright raised $312,154 for his campaign.[18]
South Carolina State Senate, District 12 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Candidates | Votes | |||
![]() |
30,559 | |||
Write-ins | 983 |
Campaign themes
2025
Ballotpedia survey responses
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2024
Lee Bright did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of South Carolina scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2016
In 2016, the South Carolina State Legislature was in session from January 12 through June 2.
- Conservation Voters of South Carolina - 2015-2016 scorecard
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental and conservation issues.
- South Carolina Chamber of Commerce - 2016 legislative scorecard & year in review
- Legislators are scored on business issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills supported or opposed by the organization.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
2015
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the South Carolina State Legislature was in session from January 13 through June 4.
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2014
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
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In 2014, the South Carolina State Legislature was in session from January 14 through June 6.
|
2013
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
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In 2013, the South Carolina State Legislature was in session from January 8 to June 20.
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2012
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2012, click [show]. |
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In 2012, the South Carolina State Legislature was in session from January 11 through June 7.
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2011
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2011, click [show]. |
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In 2011, the South Carolina State Legislature was in session from January 11 through June 2. On June 2, 2011, Governor Nikki Haley (R) attempted to call the legislature into an "emergency" special session to begin on June 7 to create the new South Carolina Department of Administration. A lawsuit was filed by Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell (R), in which he contended that Haley's call for a special session was unconstitutional, and that it violated the state Constitution's requirement of separation of powers among the governor, legislature and courts.[19] On June 6, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled 3-2 against Governor Haley, stating that her order violated the Legislature's ability to set its calendar and agenda. The legislature met in a special redistricting session from June 14 - July 1.[20] The legislature re-convened July 26.[21]
|
The Palmetto Liberty PAC Scorecard
The Palmetto Liberty Political Action Committee, a conservative, pro-limited government think tank in South Carolina, releases its scorecard for South Carolina representatives and senators once a year. The scorecard gives each legislator a score based on how he or she voted in the two-year legislative term prior to the election on specific issues that the Palametto Liberty PAC thinks are anti-limited government. "Most of the votes shown on the score card are votes that we lost. Now we can identify the Legislators that caused us to lose these votes. These Legislators are the ones who need to be replaced if we are to achieve the vision of having the most free state in the nation."[22]
2012
Lee Bright received a score of 82% in the 2012 score card, ranking 1st out of all 46 South Carolina Senate members.[23] His score was followed by Senators Kevin Bryant (76%), Tom Davis (71%), and Shane R. Martin (59%).[24]
Noteworthy events
Confederate flag debate
Sen. Bright takes the floor during the Confederate flag debate. |
On July 6, 2015, the South Carolina State Senate met to debate removing the Confederate flag from the grounds of the State House.[25] Sen. Bright was one of the first officials to address the chamber. Instead of discussing the Confederate flag, Bright instead chose to speak to the chamber about the recent same-sex marriage decision.[25]
Bright made the following statement during the Confederate flag debate about same-sex marriage:
“ | Members of the Senate, I heard our President sing a religious hymn and then Friday night I watched the White House be lit up in the abomination colors. It’s time. We’ve got Amazing Grace, we’ve got people in the stands here of faith. It’s time for the church to rise up. It’s time for the state of South Carolina to rise up. Romans chapter one is clear. The Bible is clear. This country was founded on Judeo Christian principles and they are under assault by the men in black robes who were not elected by you. We better make a stand. What I’d like to see is these folks that are working in the position of dealing with these marriage certificates not to have to betray their faith or have to compromise their faith in order to subject themselves to the tyranny of five judges. What we need to do is to debate this on the floor.
Our governor called us in to deal with the flag that sits out front. Let’s deal with the nation of sin that we face today. We talk about abortion but this gay marriage thing, I believe we will be one nation gone under. Like President Reagan said ‘If we’re not one nation under God, we will be one nation gone under.’ And to sanctify deviant behavior from five judges. It’s time for us to make our stand. It’s time to make our stand and we’re not doing it. We can rally together and talk about a flag all we want but the Devil is taking control of this land and we’re not stopping him. It’s time to make our stand. Let South Carolina discuss it. If the state’s got to get out of the business of marriage then let’s get out of the business of marriage because we cannot succumb to what’s to come of the future of this nation. Now I believe that Christ teaches us to love the homosexual but He also teaches us to stand in the gap against sin and we need to make our stand. I know how people feel, of all colors, about this. I know that we need to respect our brother and love our brother but we cannot respect this sin in the state of South Carolina so I’m asking you to open up the signing dye and let’s deal with marriage. If we’re not going to find some way to push back against the Federal Government like our forefathers did or push back against a tyrannical government like the founders of this nation did, let’s at least not put these citizens of South Carolina in a position where they’ve got to choose between their faith and their jobs.[26] |
” |
—Sen. Lee Bright (R)[27] |
Endorsements
Presidential preference
2012
Lee Bright endorsed Ron Paul in the 2012 presidential election.[28]
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Bright and his wife, Amy, have two children.[1]
See also
2025 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Project Vote Smart, "Lee Bright's Biography," accessed July 6, 2015
- ↑ Greenville News, "Sen. Ted Cruz backs Lee Bright's bid for South Carolina's 4th Congressional District seat," June 19, 2018
- ↑ South Carolina State Election Commission, "Candidate listing for the 11/8/2016 statewide general election," accessed August 26, 2016
- ↑ South Carolina State Election Commission, "2016 Statewide General Election," accessed November 28, 2016
- ↑ South Carolina State Election Commission, "2016 Republican and Democratic Primary Runoff," accessed June 28, 2016
- ↑ South Carolina Election Commission, "Candidate Tracking," accessed March 31, 2016
- ↑ South Carolina State Election Commission, "Unofficial primary election results," accessed June 14, 2016
- ↑ Politico, "Nancy Mace makes Senate run official in South Carolina," accessed August 3, 2013
- ↑ The State, "SC state senator taking on Graham," August 13, 2013
- ↑ The Associated Press, "Sen. Graham challenger kicks off campaign for GOP primary; says SC needs more conservative rep," August 13, 2013 (dead link)
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>
tag; no text was provided for refs namedap
- ↑ Politico, "Lindsey Graham challenger to raffle AR-15," accessed January 24, 2014
- ↑ South Carolina State Election Commission, "2012 Candidates," accessed April 25, 2012
- ↑ South Carolina State Election Commission, "Official Primary Results," June 29, 2012
- ↑ AP.org, "South Carolina State Senate and State House Election Results," accessed November 7, 2012
- ↑ South Carolina State Election Commission, “2012 General Election – Official Results,” November 19, 2012
- ↑ South Carolina State Election Commission, "Official election results for 2008," accessed May 15, 2014
- ↑ Follow the Money, "2008 campaign contributions," accessed May 15, 2014
- ↑ The State, "High court rules against Haley," June 6, 2011
- ↑ The Sun News, "S.C. House to have special session in June," May 6, 2011
- ↑ The Island Packet, "S.C. Senate OKs new congressional districted anchored in Beaufort County," June 29, 2011
- ↑ The Palmetto Liberty Political Action Committee, "Voting Records," accessed April 11, 2014
- ↑ Palmetto Liberty Political Action Committee, "South Carolina Senate Score Card 2012," accessed May 15, 2014
- ↑ Palmetto Liberty Political Action Committee, "South Carolina Senate Score Card 2012," accessed May 15, 2014
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 Rawstory.com, "‘The devil is taking control': Watch SC senator derail Confederate flag debate with insane gay marriage rant," July 6, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ foxcarolina.com, "Sen. Bright to SC senators: 'We better make a stand' against same-sex marriage ruling," July 6, 2015
- ↑ MSNBC, "Paul: This is a 'two-man race'," January 17, 2012
Political offices | ||
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Preceded by - |
South Carolina State Senate District 12 2008-2016 |
Succeeded by - |