Laurens County Republicans favor SC Attorney General Alan Wilson to be the next Governor, and voters in House District 14 (Laurens/Western-Southern Laurens County) reject the re-election bid of Luke Rankin in an attempt to return to the Statehouse, in Tuesday's primary electons.
Wilson will compete against Lt. Gov. Pam Evette in a statewide runoff to see who gets the GOP nomination for governor, as Henry McMaster cannot seek re-election. Evette is endorsed by President Donald J. Trump; she received 1,918 votes in Laurens County, compared to Wilson's 2,114 votes. Statewide, Evette led 136,390 to Wilson's 123,599.
The runoff is mandated because neither candidate received 50% + 1 of the votes cast.
Wilson was the guest speaker at Laurens County's Memorial Day observance, and he made Laurens a campaign stop last Saturday on a statewide bus tour.
On the Democratic side, Jermaine Johnson will be the nominee for Governor (59.7%). Johnson received 2,044 votes in Laurens County, compared to 2nd place finisher Billy Webster at 755.
In House District 14, newcomer Rick Shealy defeated incumbent Rankin, 3,089 to 2,050. Rankin had been hampered on the campaign trail because legislators were called back into session to debate Congressional redistricting designed to take US House District 6 away from long-time incumbent Democrat Jim Clyburn. The SC Senate decided not to do the redistricting this close to a primary election - Rankin strongly supported redistricting in an effort to keep national Republicans in control of the US House - the GOP currently controls the US House, the US Senate, and the Presidency, and 6 of the 9 justices on the US Supreme Court lean conservative.
Rankin said on social media, "We fell short tonight, and that's politics. Sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose. But one thing I know for sure GOD IS IN CONTROL. This result doesn't change that. I believe He has something BIGGER and BETTER for me ahead, Thank you to everyone who supported, prayed for, volunteered, and believed in this campaign. We gave it everything we had. Stay tuned - the best is yet to come."
In the race to replace Wilson as Attorney General. David Stumbo, of Greenwood, whose 8th Judicial Solicitor Circuit includes Laurens County, won the local county with 5,269 votes. compared to Stephen Goldfinch's 1,426 votes. However, Goldfinch was the top vote-getter statewide, and the two men will face off in a runoff election in 2 weeks (June 23).
All vote totals are unofficial until they are certified on Thursday. Voter turnout in Laurens County was just over 26%.
In other results, incumbent US Senator Lindsey Graham, a strong advocate of the Trump administration's Iran war policy, overcame 5 Republican challengers to win re-nomination, in statewide results. This was a dark money-dominated race, directed primarily against second-place finisher Mark Lynch, an Upstate businessman. In Laurens County, Graham got 3,599 votes compared to Lynch's 3,064 votes.
Graham will be challenged in November by Democrat Dr. Annie Andrews (1,514 votes in Laurens County), who recently was a guest speaker at a Laurens County Democratic Party event.
The Republicans also had a race for SC Secretary of Agriculture - Danny Ford and Cody Simpson are headed for a statewide run-off. In Laurens County, Ford - the son of the legendary Clemson football coach Danny Ford - led Trump-endorsed Cody Simpson, 3,729 to 2,219.
Clinton native Tiffany Boozer is the Democrats' nominee for Comptroller General, and she received 2,297 Democratic votes in Laurens County.
Ernest E. Mackins was the top vote getter (1,595) in Laurens County for the Democratic nomination to run against incumbent Republican Sheri Biggs in the US House District 3 race.
In a Laurens seat on County Council, District 4, Jimmy Poole and Lonnie Wilson are headed to a runoff - 879 votes were cast for Poole and 752 votes were cast for Wilson. Poole ran strong in Laurens 5 (210 votes) and Wilson ran strong in Waterloo (229).
In the House District 14 primary, Shealy emerged as the nominee to face the challenge of Democrat Michanna Tate in November. Shealy and incumbent Rankin actually tied in Laurens 3 at 31 votes each. Rankin won his home precinct, Hickory Tavern, but by just 2 votes (319-317). Shealy dominated in Ekom, 109-49, and won in Waterloo (245-89) and in Cross Hill (241-97).
An 8th generation South Carolinian, Shealy founded and grew a national environmental services company, and now is focused on his family farm, which is in a conservation easement. He has served as a Laurens County Republican Party state executive committeeman. His on-line campaign material says, "Columbia doesn't have a revenue problem - it has a spending and corruption problem."
This is the largest of the 4 SC House districts that include portions of Laurens County, touching Clinton in the Lydia Mill, Clinton 3, and Clinton Mill precincts.
