Russell L. Ott
2024 - Present
2028
0
Russell L. Ott (Democratic Party) is a member of the South Carolina State Senate, representing District 26. He assumed office on November 11, 2024. His current term ends on November 13, 2028.
Ott (Democratic Party) ran for election to the South Carolina State Senate to represent District 26. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Biography
Russell L. Ott earned a bachelor's degree from Clemson University and a graduate degree from the University of South Carolina. His career experience includes working as a businessman.[1]
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.
2023-2024
Ott was assigned to the following committees:
2021-2022
Ott was assigned to the following committees:
2019-2020
Ott was assigned to the following committees:
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| South Carolina committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Environmental Affairs |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Ott served on the following committees:
| South Carolina committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs, Secretary |
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
2024
See also: South Carolina State Senate elections, 2024
General election
General election for South Carolina State Senate District 26
Russell L. Ott defeated Jason Guerry in the general election for South Carolina State Senate District 26 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Russell L. Ott (D) | 54.8 | 22,049 |
| Jason Guerry (R) | 45.0 | 18,104 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 62 | ||
| Total votes: 40,215 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Harold Geddings III (Workers Party)
Republican primary runoff election
Republican primary runoff for South Carolina State Senate District 26
Jason Guerry defeated Chris Smith in the Republican primary runoff for South Carolina State Senate District 26 on June 25, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Jason Guerry | 54.8 | 1,093 | |
 | Chris Smith | 45.2 | 900 | |
| Total votes: 1,993 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for South Carolina State Senate District 26
Russell L. Ott defeated incumbent Dick Harpootlian in the Democratic primary for South Carolina State Senate District 26 on June 11, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Russell L. Ott | 51.3 | 2,414 |
| Dick Harpootlian | 48.7 | 2,294 | ||
| Total votes: 4,708 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for South Carolina State Senate District 26
Chris Smith and Jason Guerry advanced to a runoff. They defeated Billy Oswald in the Republican primary for South Carolina State Senate District 26 on June 11, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Chris Smith | 38.2 | 1,826 |
| ✔ | Jason Guerry | 35.3 | 1,687 | |
| Billy Oswald | 26.5 | 1,264 | ||
| Total votes: 4,777 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Convention
Convention for South Carolina State Senate District 26
Harold Geddings III advanced from the convention for South Carolina State Senate District 26 on March 16, 2024.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ |  | Harold Geddings III (Workers Party) |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Campaign finance
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Ott in this election.
2022
See also: South Carolina House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
General election for South Carolina House of Representatives District 93
Incumbent Russell L. Ott defeated Jim Ulmer in the general election for South Carolina House of Representatives District 93 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Russell L. Ott (D) | 60.8 | 8,139 |
| Jim Ulmer (R) | 39.1 | 5,238 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 16 | ||
| Total votes: 13,393 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Russell L. Ott advanced from the Democratic primary for South Carolina House of Representatives District 93.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Jim Ulmer advanced from the Republican primary for South Carolina House of Representatives District 93.
2020
See also: South Carolina House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for South Carolina House of Representatives District 93
Incumbent Russell L. Ott defeated Brian Merrill in the general election for South Carolina House of Representatives District 93 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Russell L. Ott (D) | 96.7 | 13,820 |
| Brian Merrill (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 0 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 3.3 | 477 | ||
| Total votes: 14,297 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Russell L. Ott advanced from the Democratic primary for South Carolina House of Representatives District 93.
2018
General election
General election for South Carolina House of Representatives District 93
Incumbent Russell L. Ott defeated Terry Kiser Sr. in the general election for South Carolina House of Representatives District 93 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Russell L. Ott (D) | 66.0 | 8,507 |
| Terry Kiser Sr. (R) | 34.0 | 4,381 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.0 | 4 | ||
| Total votes: 12,892 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for South Carolina House of Representatives District 93
Incumbent Russell L. Ott advanced from the Democratic primary for South Carolina House of Representatives District 93 on June 12, 2018.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Russell L. Ott |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for South Carolina House of Representatives District 93
Terry Kiser Sr. advanced from the Republican primary for South Carolina House of Representatives District 93 on June 12, 2018.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | Terry Kiser Sr. | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2016
Elections for the South Carolina House of Representatives 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.
Incumbent Russell L. Ott ran unopposed in the South Carolina House of Representatives District 93 general election.[2][3]
| South Carolina House of Representatives, District 93 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Russell L. Ott Incumbent (unopposed) |
100.00% | 12,559 | |
| Total Votes | 12,559 | |||
| Source: South Carolina State Election Commission | ||||
Incumbent Russell L. Ott ran unopposed in the South Carolina House of Representatives District 93 Democratic primary.[4][5]
| South Carolina House of Representatives, District 93 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic | Russell L. Ott Incumbent (unopposed) | |
2014
Elections for all 124 seats in the South Carolina House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election took place on June 10, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 30, 2014. Incumbent Russell L. Ott ran unopposed in the Democratic primary and was unchallenged in the general election.[6][7][8]
2013
Ott won election in a special election for South Carolina House of Representatives District 93. The seat was vacant following Rep. Harry Ott, Jr.'s (D) resignation to work as the state director for the Farm Service Agency in the federal government. Ott defeated Charles H. Stoudemire Jr. (R) in the special election, which took place on October 29.[9][10][11]
| South Carolina House of Representatives, District 93, Special Election, 2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Russell L. Ott |
66.3% | 1,859 | |
| Republican | Charles H. Stoudemire Jr. | 33.7% | 944 | |
| Total Votes | 2,803 | |||
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Russell L. Ott did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2022
Russell L. Ott did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2020
Russell L. Ott did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 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.
2024
In 2024, the South Carolina State Legislature was in session from January 9 to May 9.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental and conservation issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the South Carolina State Legislature was in session from January 10 to May 11.
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2022
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
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In 2022, the South Carolina State Legislature was in session from January 11 to May 12.
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2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the South Carolina State Legislature was in session from January 12 to May 13.
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2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the South Carolina State Legislature was in session from January 14 to June 25. The state Senate reconvened September to September 3. Both chambers reconvened September 15 to September 24.
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2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the South Carolina State Legislature was in session from January 8 through May 21.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the South Carolina State Legislature was in session from January 9 through May 10.
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2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the South Carolina State Legislature was in session from January 10 through May 11.
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2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the South Carolina State Legislature was in session from January 12 through June 2.
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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.
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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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See also
2024 Elections
External links
|
Candidate South Carolina State Senate District 26 |
Officeholder South Carolina State Senate District 26 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ South Carolina State House, "Senator Russell L. Ott," accessed February 28, 2025
- ↑ 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 Election Commission, "Candidate Tracking," accessed March 31, 2016
- ↑ South Carolina State Election Commission, "Unofficial primary election results," accessed June 14, 2016
- ↑ South Carolina State Election Commission, "Election Results," accessed June 10, 2014
- ↑ South Carolina State Election Commission, "Official general election results," accessed November 13, 2014
- ↑ South Carolina State Election Commission, "2014 Election Information," accessed March 31, 2014
- ↑ scvotes.org, "State House of Representatives District 93 Special Election," accessed July 31, 2013
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedresult - ↑ scvotes.org, "Official special election results," accessed November 19, 2013
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Nikki Setzler (D) |
South Carolina State Senate District 26 2024-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
South Carolina House of Representatives District 93 2013-2024 |
Succeeded by Jerry Govan Jr. (D) |
