Lee Blatt

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Lee Blatt

Republican Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

June 11, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, 2007

Personal

Birthplace

Columbia, S.C.

Religion

Christian

Profession

Real estate developer

Contact

Campaign Facebook

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Personal Facebook

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Lee Blatt (Republican Party) ran for election to the South Carolina State Senate to represent District 22. He did not appear on the ballot for the Republican primary on June 11, 2024.

Biography

Blatt's professional experience includes working in business development and commercial real estate development, law enforcement, and aviation. He earned a bachelor's degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2007.

Elections

2024

See also: South Carolina State Senate elections, 2024

General election

General election for South Carolina State Senate District 22

Overture Walker won election in the general election for South Carolina State Senate District 22 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Overture Walker (D)	98.5	41,207
		Other/Write-in votes	1.5	609

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 41,816
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Gary Votour (Workers Party)

Democratic primary runoff election

Democratic primary runoff for South Carolina State Senate District 22

Overture Walker defeated Ivory Thigpen in the Democratic primary runoff for South Carolina State Senate District 22 on June 25, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Overture Walker	53.7	2,862
		Ivory Thigpen	46.3	2,472

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 5,334
= 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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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for South Carolina State Senate District 22

Ivory Thigpen and Overture Walker advanced to a runoff. They defeated Monica Elkins in the Democratic primary for South Carolina State Senate District 22 on June 11, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ivory Thigpen	42.9	3,208
✔		Overture Walker	40.4	3,019
		Monica Elkins	16.8	1,254

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 7,481
= 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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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Lee Blatt (R)

Convention

Convention for South Carolina State Senate District 22

Gary Votour advanced from the convention for South Carolina State Senate District 22 on March 16, 2024.

		Candidate
✔		Gary Votour (Workers Party)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.
= 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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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Blatt in this election.

2020

See also: South Carolina State Senate elections, 2020

General election

General election for South Carolina State Senate District 22

Incumbent Mia McLeod defeated Lee Blatt in the general election for South Carolina State Senate District 22 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mia McLeod (D)	62.2	35,438
		Lee Blatt (R)	37.8	21,525
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	43

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 57,006
= 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 Mia McLeod advanced from the Democratic primary for South Carolina State Senate District 22.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for South Carolina State Senate District 22

Lee Blatt defeated David Larsen in the Republican primary for South Carolina State Senate District 22 on June 9, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Lee Blatt	75.8	3,393
	Submit photo	David Larsen	24.2	1,081

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2	Total votes: 4,474
= 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.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Michael Letts (R)

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Lee Blatt did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Lee Blatt completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Blatt's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

...

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• As your State Senator, I pledge to do everything I can do decrease state testing, put more money in the classrooms instead of at the administration level, and pay our teachers what they deserve. I want to improve our education system with a new focus on vocational and technical training for our students. https://www.facebook.com/103009478038936/videos/350155179595866
• As your State Senator, I will work to ensure the growth in our district does not overwhelm our area. In order to do that, I will make sure we have sufficient and efficient roads and infrastructure; I will cut red tape for small businesses to make sure they stay in our area; and I will fight to attract qualified businesses and industries looking to locate to our area who can provide good-paying jobs.
• Coronavirus: For my part, as a candidate for the SC Senate, I'd like to look down the road and focus my efforts on developing a plan to rebuild and grow our economy. Just a few short months ago, our economy was setting records - we were experiencing all-time highs - and I fully intend to work to bring it back to that capacity.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Education: I believe every child in South Carolina deserves a great education. Right now, South Carolina is ranked among the last in the nation in education and there is very little being done to mitigate this systemic problem. For me, this issue hits close to home as I have young children who will be old enough to start school in the next few years. Lack of education is a fundamental root of a variety of problems plaguing our state. Educating and empowering our children gives them the tools and resources they need to make wise decisions. I believe a new focus on vocational and technical training is the best solution. As your State Senator, I want to make these needed changes and invest in the children of South Carolina.
I want to empower all students through Vocational & Technical training, allowing them greater opportunity after graduation. A path to trade certification in high school would equip our students to graduate workforce-ready and college-prepared, whatever route they choose. Many high-paying skilled labor jobs do not require a college degree, and I believe a SC Vocational Initiative can give our students the choice of a debt-free start in a lifelong career with an immediate salary, all right out of high school.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Honesty and Integrity make a Law Maker most favorable. If an elected official does not always act in a way that is best for the people of their jurisdiction, even to the point of personal of professional detriment, then they are primarily seeking power for self gain which is the foundation of corruption.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

Resilience, I never give up. An personal example: When I was in my 20s, I lost my Air Force Reserve pilot slot after 3 years of work to a misdiagnosed medical eye condition that I did not have. At that point, I changed my career path and was hired at American Airlines. As a Captain at American and after flying for them for over 5 years, I had a medical incident that manifested between a severe migraine paired with confusion. No medical issues were ever found But I lost my medical for the full five year waiting period and had to look for an entirely new career ... and in a hurry, as my wife was pregnant with our first child. It was at that point I made my way to the field I am in now. I think my perseverance, as well as diverse background, uniquely qualify me for the State Legislature. I hope to have the opportunity to serve the people of South Carolina and Senate District 22.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My first job out of college was as a Deputy Sheriff for the Richland County Sheriffs Department, I was a road officer and part-time pilot for 2 years and a reserve pilot for about 5 years after that.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

You've Got a Friend in Me, from Toy Story the movie.

Every state besides Nebraska has two legislative chambers. What do you consider the most important differences between the legislative chambers in your state?

From the Congress to State Legislature, the system is designed so that legislation can be stopped at many different points, and no one person or group can pass legislation through. Bills can be stopped in the House, Senate, vetoed by the Governor, or struck down in the State Supreme Court. In South Carolina, I believe the biggest difference in the two chambers is that any Senator can unilaterally hold up legislation. In the house it takes a few members working together to hold up a bill. The way our system is set up, power is in being able to stop legislation since no one person or group can pass legislation.

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

I believe there should be a healthy balance of both. It would not be beneficial if the vast majority were lifetime legislators who are tired of the fight, who do not have good pulse on the community, and who work slowly. It would be equally unfavorable to have the legislature composed of all new members who lack experience, are unfamiliar with the process, constantly hit brick walls, and throw out too many pieces of legislation that grid lock the system. As in most areas of life, I believe a healthy balance is key.

What do you perceive to be your state’s greatest challenges over the next decade?

I believe the fundamental challenge is the education system. If we continue down the failing road we currently run, our State will most likely not improve and businesses will continue to be hesitant to come to SC because of the lack of a qualified work force. South Carolina's population is half of that of the surrounding States, leaving us with tremendous room for growth, but unfortunately we have squandered far to many opportunities to better our State.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary

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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.

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Lee Blatt campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	South Carolina State Senate District 22	Withdrew primary	$0	$0
2020	South Carolina State Senate District 22	Lost general	$140,964	N/A**
Grand total			$140,964	N/A**
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

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Candidate

South Carolina State Senate District 22

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Footnotes

[show]

Current members of the South Carolina State Senate

Leadership

Senate President:Thomas Alexander

Majority Leader:Shane Massey

Minority Leader:Brad Hutto

Senators

District 1

Thomas Alexander (R)

District 2

Rex Rice (R)

District 3

Richard Cash (R)

District 4

Michael Gambrell (R)

District 5

Tom Corbin (R)

District 6

Jason Elliott (R)

District 7

Karl Allen (D)

District 8

Ross Turner (R)

District 9

Daniel Verdin (R)

District 10

Billy Garrett (R)

District 11

Josh Kimbrell (R)

District 12

Vacant

District 13

Shane Martin (R)

District 14

Harvey Peeler (R)

District 15

Wes Climer (R)

District 16

Michael Johnson (R)

District 17

Everett Stubbs (R)

District 18

Ronnie Cromer (R)

District 19

Tameika Isaac Devine (D)

District 20

Ed Sutton (D)

District 21

Darrell Jackson (D)

District 22

Overture Walker (D)

District 23

Carlisle Kennedy (R)

District 24

Tom Young (R)

District 25

Shane Massey (R)

District 26

Russell Ott (D)

District 27

Allen Blackmon (R)

District 28

Greg Hembree (R)

District 29

J.D. Chaplin (R)

District 30

Kent Williams (D)

District 31

Mike Reichenbach (R)

District 32

Ronnie Sabb (D)

District 33

Luke Rankin (R)

District 34

Stephen Goldfinch (R)

District 35

Jeffrey Graham (D)

District 36

Jeffrey Zell (R)

District 37

Lawrence Grooms (R)

District 38

Sean Bennett (R)

District 39

Tom Fernandez (R)

District 40

Brad Hutto (D)

District 41

Matthew Leber (R)

District 42

Deon Tedder (D)

District 43

George Campsen (R)

District 44

Brian Adams (R)

District 45

Margie Matthews (D)

District 46

Tom Davis (R)

Republican Party (33)

Democratic Party (12)

Vacancies (1)