Darlington County, state election results
By Stephan Drew, Editor
Last Tuesday, November 8th, elections were held all over the country. In Darlington county, voters had only one local seat with 2 candidates to choose from. Dannie Douglas Jr., who occupies the County Council seat for District 2 was challenged by Bob Dickerson with Dickerson picking up a significant amount of votes. In the final count, Dickerson garnered 1,113 votes (42.21%) but could not overtake Douglas, who came in with 1,517 votes (57.53%).
In other elections, very few surprises occurred. The incumbent team of Governor Henry McMaster/Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette (R) was challenged by Joe Cunningham/Tally Parham Casey (D) and Bruce Reeves/Jessica Etheridge (I). McMaster/Evette won Darlington County with 11,529 votes (57.56%) and held an easy majority statewide with 988,473 votes (58.04%). Cunningham/Casey garnered 8,330 votes (41.59%) in Darlington County and 692,687 votes (40.67%) statewide. Reeves/Etheridge earned 163 votes (.81%) in Darlington County and 20,826 votes (1.22%) statewide.
In the race for SC Secretary of State, winner Mark Hammond received 12,201 votes (61.11%) in Darlington County and 1,071,423 votes (63.33%) statewide. Challenger Rosemounda Peggy Butler gained 7,756 votes (38.85%) in Darlington County and 619,337 votes (36.61%) statewide.
In the SC Attorney General’s race, incumbent Alan Wilson retained his seat with 13,574 votes (98.51%) in Darlington County and 1,223,053 votes (97.32%) statewide. There were 205 write-in votes (1.49%) in Darlington County and 33,708 votes (2.68%) statewide.
In the SC State Treasurer’s race, incumbent Curtis Loftis resisted challenger Sarah E. Works’ efforts to take his seat. Loftis garnered 12,625 votes (84.17%) in Darlington County and 1,129,933 votes (79.67%) statewide. Work earned 2,315 votes (15.43%) in Darlington County and 281,693 votes (19.86%) statewide.
For SC Comptroller General, incumbent Richard Eckstrom won 13,594 votes (98.84%) in Darlington County and 1,229,851 votes (98.21%) statewide. There were 145 write-in votes (1.06%) against him in Darlington County and 22,407 votes (1.79%) statewide. In the race for Commissioner of Agriculture, Hugh Weathers won with 12,398 votes (83.38%) in Darlington County and 1,085,111 votes (77.6%) statewide. Challenger David Edmond received 1,435 votes (9.65%) in Darlington County and 213,217 votes (15.25%) statewide. Chris Nelums won 1,001 votes (6.73%) in Darlington County and 95,624 votes (6.84%) statewide.
In the U.S. Senate Race, incumbent Tim Scott easily fended off his challenger, garnering 12,110 votes (60.5%) in Darlington County and 1,066,246 votes (62.88%) statewide. Challenger Kristle Matthews received 7,894 votes (39.44%) in Darlington County and 627,612 votes (37.01%) statewide. In the race for District 7 in the U.S. House of Representatives, Russell Fry took the seat with 11,798 votes (59.02%) in Darlington County and 164,440 votes (64.77%) statewide. His opponent, Daryl W. Scott, received 8,173 votes (40.89%) in Darlington County and 89,030 votes (35.07%) statewide. There were also 395 write-in votes, accounting for 0.16% of the vote.
In the race for the District 54 seat in the SC State House of Representatives, Sterling McDiarmid earned 727 votes (47.8%) in Darlington County and 5,287 votes (47.64%) statewide. Incumbent Patricia “Pat” Moore Henegan won 794 votes (52.2%) in Darlington County and 5,804 votes (52.3%) statewide to retain her seat.
There were also 2 amendments on the SC ballot this year which require more money to be set aside for state emergencies and catastrophic situations. Amendment #1 proposed increasing the General Reserve Fund from 5% to 7% of state general fund revenue. The measure passed in Darlington County with 10,030 (58.93%) to 6,989 votes (41.07%) and statewide by 947,595 (62%) to 583,567 (38%). Amendment #2 proposed increasing the Capital Reserve Fund from 2% to 3% of state revenue. This measure also passed with 9,983 votes (58.87%) to 6,975 votes (41.13%) in Darlington County and 973,165 votes (62%) to 584,893 votes (38%) statewide.
