South Carolina state legislative special elections, 2018
- General election: Nov. 6
- Voter registration deadline: Oct. 17
- Early voting: N/A
- Absentee voting deadline: Nov. 6
- Online registration: Yes
- Same-day registration: No
- Voter ID: Photo ID required
- Poll times: 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
2019 →
← 2017
|
 special elections |
|
|
| Other election coverage |
State legislative elections State executive elections State judicial elections Ballot measures |
In 2018, five special elections were called to fill vacant seats in the South Carolina State Legislature. Click here to read more about the special elections.
Senate special elections called:
- District 20: November 6
House special elections called:
- District 56: January 2
- District 28: January 16
- District 99: January 16
- District 69: May 1
How vacancies are filled in South Carolina
If there is a vacancy in the South Carolina Legislature, the presiding officer of the chamber in which the vacancy happens must call for a special election. If candidates plan to seek the nomination through a political party primary or a political party convention, the filing period begins on the third Friday after the vacancy occurs. The qualifying deadline is eight days after the filing period opens.[1]
If a candidate plans to seek the nomination via petition, all signatures must be submitted to the appropriate filing officer no later than 60 days before the election. All signatures must be verified by the filing officer no later than 45 days before the election.[2]
A primary election must be held on the eleventh Tuesday after the vacancy occurs. If necessary, a primary runoff must be held on the thirteenth Tuesday after the vacancy occurs. The special election is held on the twentieth Tuesday after the vacancy occurs. If the twentieth Tuesday after the vacancy occurs is less than 60 days prior to the general election, the special election must be held on the same day as the general election.[2][3]
See sources: South Carolina Const. Art. III, § 25 and South Carolina Code Ann. § 7-13-190
About the legislature
The South Carolina General Assembly, also called the South Carolina Legislature, is the state legislature of South Carolina. It consists of the lower House of Representatives and the upper State Senate. The boxes below show the partisan composition of both chambers directly before and after the November 2016 general election. For the most up-to-date numbers on partisan composition in this legislature, see here (Senate) and here (House).
| South Carolina State Senate | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 7, 2016 | After November 8, 2016 | |
| Democratic Party | 18 | 18 | |
| Republican Party | 28 | 28 | |
| Total | 46 | 46 | |
| South Carolina House of Representatives | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 7, 2016 | After November 8, 2016 | |
| Democratic Party | 46 | 44 | |
| Republican Party | 77 | 80 | |
| Vacancy | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 124 | 124 | |
Special elections
Click [show] to the right of the district name for more information:
January 2, 2018
| ☑ South Carolina House of Representatives District 56 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
A special election for the position of South Carolina House of Representatives District 56 was held on January 2, 2018. The primary election took place on October 24, 2017. The filing deadline for political parties to nominate their candidates to run in this election was September 2, 2017.[4] The seat was vacant following Mike Ryhal's (R) resignation on August 7, 2017. Ryhal cited family issues when announcing his resignation.[5] Tim McGinnis defeated Adam Miller and Dwyer Scott in the Republican primary. No Democratic candidates filed for election. Official results had McGinnis winning the primary with 66.5 percent of the vote.[6] McGinnis was unopposed in the general election.[7]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
January 16, 2018
| ☑ South Carolina House of Representatives District 28 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
A special election for the position of South Carolina House of Representatives District 28 was held on January 16, 2018. The primary election took place on November 14, 2017. The filing deadline for political parties to nominate their candidates to run in this election was September 23, 2017.[8] On August 29, 2017, District 28 Representative Eric Bedingfield announced that he would resign from the state House effective January 18, 2018, in order to become the director of government affairs at Greenville Technical College.[9] Ashley Trantham (R) ran unopposed in the January 16 special election.[8] Trantham defeated Krystal Blume, Jonathan Smith, and Bill Welch in the Republican primary. No Democratic candidates filed for election.[8][10]
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ☑ South Carolina House of Representatives District 99 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
A special election for the position of South Carolina House of Representatives District 99 was held on January 16, 2018. The primary election took place on November 14, 2017. The filing deadline for political parties to nominate their candidates to run in this election was September 23, 2017.[11] The seat was vacant following James Merrill's (R) resignation on September 1, 2017. On December 14, 2016, Merrill was indicted by a grand jury on 30 counts of ethics violations, including charges that Merrill took money for personal use from groups with a stake in state House legislation and failed to report it on state House disclosure records. Later that same day, he was suspended, effective immediately, by Jay Lucas, the Republican Speaker of the South Carolina State House. Merrill was ultimately convicted and sentenced to probation.[12][13] Nancy Mace (R) defeated Cindy Boatwright (D) in the general election.[11] Boatwright ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. Mace defeated Mark Smith in a November 28 Republican primary runoff.[14] Mace and Smith defeated Jarrod Brooks and Shawn Pinkston in the Republican primary.[11][15]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
May 1, 2018
| ☑ South Carolina House of Representatives District 69 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 A special election for the position of South Carolina House of Representatives District 69 was called for May 1, 2018. A special primary election was held on February 27, 2018. A primary runoff was held on March 13, 2018. The candidate filing deadline was January 6, 2018.[16] The seat became vacant following Rick Quinn's (R) resignation on December 13, 2017. He resigned his state legislative seat prior to pleading guilty to misconduct in office.[17] Anne Marie Eckstorm Green and Chris Wooten defeated Joel Deason, Alan Ray, and Michael Weaver in the Republican primary election. Wooten then defeated Green in primary runoff election on March 13, 2018. He faced no opposition in the general election. A.J. Blues filed to run as a Libertarian candidate, but the party declined to nominate him.[18][19][20][21]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
November 6, 2018
| ☑ South Carolina State Senate District 20 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 A special election for the position of South Carolina State Senate District 20 was called for November 6, 2018. A special primary election was held on August 14, 2018. A Republican primary runoff was held on August 28, 2018. The candidate filing deadline was June 30, 2018.[22] The seat became vacant following John Courson's (R) resignation on June 4, 2018. He resigned his state legislative seat prior to pleading guilty to misconduct in office.[23] Dick Harpootlian defeated Kyle Lacio and Dayna Alane Smith in the Democratic primary. Benjamin Dunn and John Holler defeated Christian Stegmaier and Bill Turbeville in the Republican primary election. Dunn then defeated Holler in primary runoff election on August 28, 2018. Harpootlian and Dunn competed in the general election on November 6, 2018. [24][25]
General electionSpecial general election for South Carolina State Senate District 20Dick Harpootlian defeated Benjamin Dunn in the special general election for South Carolina State Senate District 20 on November 6, 2018.
Republican primary runoff electionSpecial Republican primary runoff for South Carolina State Senate District 20Benjamin Dunn defeated John Holler in the special Republican primary runoff for South Carolina State Senate District 20 on August 28, 2018.
Democratic primary electionSpecial Democratic primary for South Carolina State Senate District 20Dick Harpootlian defeated Dayna Alane Smith and Kyle Lacio in the special Democratic primary for South Carolina State Senate District 20 on August 14, 2018.
Republican primary electionSpecial Republican primary for South Carolina State Senate District 20Benjamin Dunn and John Holler advanced to a runoff. They defeated Christian Stegmaier and Bill Turbeville in the special Republican primary for South Carolina State Senate District 20 on August 14, 2018.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
= candidate completed the Special elections throughout the country
In 2018, 99 state legislative special elections were held in 26 states. Between 2011 and 2017, an average of 74 special elections took place each year.
Breakdown of 2018 special elections
In 2018, special elections for state legislative positions were held for the following reasons:
- 58 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
- 16 due to a retirement
- 10 due to a resignation related to criminal charges
- 7 due to a resignation related to allegations of sexual misconduct
- 5 due to the death of the incumbent
- 2 due to a resignation to take a private sector job
- 1 due to an election being rerun
Impact of special elections on partisan composition
The partisan breakdown for the special elections was as follows:
- 42 Democratic seats
- 57 Republican seats
The table below details how many seats changed parties as the result of a special election in 2018. The number on the left reflects how many vacant seats were originally held by each party, while the number on the right shows how many vacant seats each party won in the special elections. In elections between 2011 and 2016, either the Democratic Party or Republican Party saw an average net gain of three seats across the country. In 2017, Democrats had a net gain of 11 seats.
Note: This table reflects information for elections that were held and not the total number of vacant seats.
| Partisan Change from Special Elections (2018) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of Special Election | After Special Election | |
| Democratic Party | 42 | 50 | |
| Republican Party | 57 | 49 | |
| Independent | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 99 | 99 | |
Democrats gained 11 seats in 2017 special elections and eight seats in 2018 special elections. The table below details the results of special elections held in 2017 and 2018 cumulatively.
| Partisan Change from Special Elections (2017-2018) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of Special Election | After Special Election | |
| Democratic Party | 87 | 106 | |
| Republican Party | 110 | 91 | |
| Independent | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 197 | 197 | |
Flipped seats
In 2018, 16 seats flipped as a result of state legislative special elections. Twelve seats flipped from Republican control to Democratic control. Four seats flipped from Democratic control to Republican control.
In New York, a Democratic candidate running on the Republican ticket won election to Assembly District 142 on April 24. The previous incumbent in that district was a Democrat. Due to the winning candidate's party affiliation, Assembly District 142 was not added to the list of flipped seats in 2018.
Seats flipped from R to D
- Wisconsin State Senate District 10 (January 16)
- Missouri House of Representatives District 97 (February 6)
- Florida House of Representatives District 72 (February 13)
- Kentucky House of Representatives District 49 (February 20)
- New Hampshire House of Representatives District Belknap 3 (February 27)
- Connecticut House of Representatives District 120 (February 27)
- New York State Assembly District 10 (April 24)
- Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 178 (May 15)
- Missouri State Senate District 17 (June 5)
- Wisconsin State Senate District 1 (June 12)
- South Carolina State Senate District 20 (November 6)
- Texas House of Representatives District 52 (November 6)
Seats flipped from D to R
- Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 48 (May 15)
- Texas State Senate District 19 (September 18)
- Louisiana House of Representatives District 10 (November 6)[26]
- Louisiana House of Representatives District 33 (November 6)
See also
- State legislative special elections, 2018
- State legislative special elections, 2017
- State legislative special elections, 2016
- South Carolina State Legislature
Footnotes
- ↑ South Carolina State Legislature, "South Carolina Code," accessed February 17, 2021 (Statute 7-13-190 (A)-(B))
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 South Carolina State Legislature, "South Carolina Code," accessed February 17, 2021 (Statute 7-13-190 (B))
- ↑ South Carolina State Legislature, "South Carolina Constitution," accessed February 17, 2021 (Article 3, Section 25)
- ↑ South Carolina Election Commission, "House of Representatives District 56 Special Election," accessed August 25, 2017
- ↑ Post and Courier, "Another South Carolina lawmaker resigns: Myrtle Beach's Mike Ryhal cites 'family reasons'," August 8, 2017
- ↑ South Carolina Election Commission, "State House of Representatives District 56 Republican Primary," accessed October 24, 2017
- ↑ South Carolina Election Commission, "State House of Representatives District 56 Special Election," January 2, 2018
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 South Carolina Election Commission, "House of Representatives District 28 Special Election," accessed September 1, 2017
- ↑ Fits News, "#SCStateHouse: Eric Bedingfield To Resign Next Year," August 29, 2017
- ↑ South Carolina Election Commission, "State House of Representatives District 28 Republican Primary," accessed November 14, 2017
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 South Carolina Election Commission, "House of Representatives District 99 Special Election," accessed September 1, 2017
- ↑ Post and Courier, "Rep. Jim Merrill indicted in S.C. Statehouse probe; suspended from office", December 14, 2016
- ↑ The State, "Corrupt politician gets off easy? What’s behind the latest conviction in SC probe," September 2, 2017
- ↑ South Carolina Election Commission, "State House of Representatives District 99 Republican Primary Runoff," accessed November 28, 2017
- ↑ South Carolina Election Commission, "State House of Representatives District 99 Republican Primary," accessed November 14, 2017
- ↑ South Carolina Election Commission, "State House of Representatives District 69 Special Election," accessed December 14, 2017
- ↑ The Post and Courier, "Rep. Rick Quinn pleads guilty in S.C. Statehouse corruption case," December 13, 2017
- ↑ South Carolina Election Commission, "Candidate Listing for the 5/1/2018 State House of Rep Dist 69 Special Elect," accessed January 8, 2018
- ↑ Lexington Musician Won't Get Libertarian Nomination for House Seat, "Lexington Musician Won't Get Libertarian Nomination for House Seat," February 7, 2018
- ↑ South Carolina Election Commission, "State House of Representatives District 69 Republican Primary," February 27, 2018
- ↑ South Carolina Election Commission, "State House of Representatives District 69 Republican Primary Runoff," March 13, 2018
- ↑ South Carolina Election Commission, "State Senate District 20 Special Election," accessed October 23, 2017
- ↑ The State, "Longtime Richland Sen. Courson resigns, enters guilty plea in corruption probe," June 4, 2018
- ↑ South Carolina Election Commission, "Primary - State Senate District 20," accessed October 23, 2018
- ↑ South Carolina Election Commission, "Primary Runoff - State Senate District 20," accessed October 23, 2018
- ↑ The general election was cancelled after Wayne McMahen (R) was the only candidate to file for election.
 |
State of South Carolina Columbia (capital) |
|---|---|
| Elections |
What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2025 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures |
| Government |
Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy |
