Andrews flips U.S. Senate seat as Wilson wins Governor’s mansion in split South Carolina ballot

Democrat wins statewide for the first time in decades while Republicans hold every other top office; Darlington County returns familiar faces and one clear-cut council contest

South Carolina voters delivered a divided verdict on Tuesday: Republicans kept the Governor’s Mansion and every other statewide constitutional office, but Democrat Annie Andrews captured a U.S. Senate seat in a result that few in either party would have predicted a few years ago.

Unofficial returns show Andrews finishing with 51.02 percent of the vote, ahead of Republican Darline Graham at 46.76 percent. Libertarian Kasie Whitener took 1.16 percent and Constitution Party nominee Mark Hackett 0.82 percent. The win is a striking reversal for a state where Republican Senate candidates have long outperformed their party’s nominees for governor. Jim DeMint won 61.48 percent in 2010, and Tim Scott topped 60 percent in each of his three races, reaching 62.88 percent in 2022. Andrews is the first Democrat to win a Senate race in South Carolina since Fritz Hollings in 1998.

At the top of the ballot, Republican Attorney General Alan Wilson was elected governor with 51.71 percent, defeating Democrat Jermaine Johnson, who received 47.00 percent. Wilson will be joined in office by running mate Mike Reichenbach. United Citizens Party nominee Michael Addison drew 0.79 percent, and Green Party nominee Walid Hakim took 0.45 percent.

The margin of roughly 4.7 points is notably thinner than recent Republican gubernatorial victories. Henry McMaster received 58 percent in 2022, while Mark Sanford and Nikki Haley earned 55 and 56 percent in their winning campaigns. Even so, the result keeps the office in Republican hands.

Republicans Sweep Down-Ballot Statewide Races, Narrowly

Every other statewide office went to the GOP, though most by margins of five points or fewer.

Secretary of State

Mark Hammond (R, inc.)

53.10%

Jason Belton (D)

46.85%

State Treasurer

Curtis Loftis (R, inc.)

52.65%

Vincent Coe (D)

47.30%

Attorney General

David Stumbo (R)

52.43%

Richard Hricik (D)

47.51%

Comptroller General

Mike Burkhold (R)

52.18%

Tiffany Boozer (D)

47.78%

Superintendent of Education

Ellen Weaver (R, inc.)

51.10%

Sylvia Wright (D)

48.08%

Commissioner of Agriculture

Cody Simpson (R)

51.71%

Vincent Coe (D)

45.54%

The closest of the group were the Attorney General’s race, where Stumbo’s lead over Hricik was just 0.92 points of the vote, and the Comptroller General’s contest, where Burkhold defeated Boozer by about 4.4 points. In the Superintendent of Education race, Weaver was re-elected with 51.10 percent, well below the 55.52 percent she won in her first campaign in 2022. Wright’s 48.08 percent was the strongest showing for a Democrat in that office in years, and the race has historically been a tough one for Democrats to win.

In the Agriculture Commissioner race, Libertarian Michael Sullens drew 1.90 percent and United Citizens Party candidate Chris Nelums 0.79 percent.

In the U.S. House, Republican Russell Fry was re-elected in the 7th Congressional District with 56.75 percent, defeating Democrat John Gregory Vincent, who received 43.19 percent.

Darlington-area incumbents on the ballot for the state House returned to Columbia.

• District 53: Republican Richard “Richie” Yow won re-election with 65.75 percent over Democrat Bruce M. Wallace (34.19 percent). Yow first won the seat in 2014.

• District 54: Democrat Jason Luck, who ran effectively unopposed, won a second term with 98.49 percent.

• District 62: Democrat Robert Williams, first elected 20 years ago, also ran effectively unopposed and took 97.80 percent.

• District 65: Republican Cody T. Mitchell won a third term with 67.79 percent against Democrat Tanisha Baskin (32.11 percent).

The one contested County Council race went to the Democrats. In District 2, Antonio McFarland defeated Republican Brady Hill, 2,074 votes to 1,090 (65.47 percent to 34.41 percent). Three other council members were elected without opposition: Republican Bobby Hudson (District 4), Democrat Albert Davis III (District 6) and Republican David H. Coker (District .

For the two seats on the Soil and Water District Commission, William W. Kirven IV received 7,537 votes and Gregory Dayne Brown received 6,830.

Four Darlington County School Board candidates ran unopposed: Leigh Anne Kelley (District 1), Audrey DuBose Gore (District 3), Amanda Thompsen (District 5) and Wanda Hassler (District 7).

No candidates filed for the three-seat Palmetto Fire District Commissioner race, which drew only write-in votes, 58 in total.

All results are unofficial until they are certified, which is expected later this week.