South Carolina state legislative special elections, 2022

South Carolina 2022 elections

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As of July, three special elections have been 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 31: March 29

House special elections called:

* District 97: May 17
* District 18: May 24

## Contents

* 1 How vacancies are filled in South Carolina
* 2 About the legislature
* 3 Special elections
* 3.1 March 29, 2022
* 3.2 May 17, 2022
* 3.3 May 24, 2022
* 4 Historical data
* 5 Special elections throughout the country
* 5.1 Breakdown of 2022 special elections
* 5.2 Impact of special elections on partisan composition
* 5.3 Flipped seats
* 5.3.1 Seats flipped from R to D
* 6 See also
* 7 Footnotes

#### How vacancies are filled in South Carolina[edit]

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[edit]

The South Carolina State Legislature is a bicameral body composed of the South Carolina House of Representatives, with 124 members, and the South Carolina State Senate, with 46 members.

The boxes below show the partisan composition of both chambers directly before and after the most recent general elections prior to 2022. 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 3, 2020  | After November 4, 2020
| Democratic Party | 19  | 16
| Republican Party | 27 | 30
Total |  46 |  46
South Carolina State House

Party  | As of November 3, 2020  | After November 4, 2020
| Democratic Party | 45  | 43
| Republican Party | 78 | 81
| Vacancy  | 1  | 0
Total |  124 |  124

## Special elections[edit]

Click [show] to the right of the district name for more information:

### March 29, 2022[edit]

South Carolina State Senate District 31 |

|

See also: South Carolina state legislative special elections, 2022

A special election for South Carolina State Senate District 31 was called for March 29, 2022. A primary took place on January 25, 2022. The candidate filing deadline passed December 11, 2021.[4]

The seat became vacant after the death of Hugh Leatherman (R) on November 12, 2021.[4]

General election

##### Special general election for South Carolina State Senate District 31

Mike Reichenbach defeated Suzanne La Rochelle in the special general election for South Carolina State Senate District 31 on March 29, 2022.

|  |

Candidate

Votes

|
|
|

✔ |

| Mike Reichenbach (R)  |

90.1

| 7,547

| Suzanne La Rochelle (D)  |

9.7

| 811
|  | Other/Write-in votes |

0.2

| 14

* * *

There were no incumbents in this race. Source

| Total votes: 8,372

|
|

= candidate completed 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. Suzanne La Rochelle advanced from the special Democratic primary for South Carolina State Senate District 31.

Republican primary election

##### Special Republican primary for South Carolina State Senate District 31

Mike Reichenbach defeated Jay Jordan in the special Republican primary for South Carolina State Senate District 31 on January 25, 2022.

Candidate

Votes

|
|
|

✔ |

| Mike Reichenbach |

53.0

| 5,577

| Jay Jordan |

47.0

| 4,951

* * *

There were no incumbents in this race. Source

| Total votes: 10,528

|
|

= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

### May 17, 2022[edit]

South Carolina House of Representatives District 97 |

|

See also: South Carolina state legislative special elections, 2022

A special election for South Carolina House of Representatives District 97 was called for May 17, 2022. A primary took place on March 8, 2022. If necessary, a primary runoff election was held on March 22, 2022. The candidate filing deadline passed on January 15, 2022.[5]

The seat became vacant after Rep. Mandy Kimmons (R) resigned on December 21, 2021, to focus on her community and legal career.[6]

General election

##### Special general election for South Carolina House of Representatives District 97

Robby Robbins defeated ReZsaun Lewis in the special general election for South Carolina House of Representatives District 97 on May 17, 2022.

|  |

Candidate

Votes

|
|
|

✔ |

| Robby Robbins (R)  |

63.4

| 1,511

| ReZsaun Lewis (D) |

36.2

| 862
|  | Other/Write-in votes |

0.4

| 10

* * *

There were no incumbents in this race. Source

| Total votes: 2,383

|
|

= candidate completed 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. ReZsaun Lewis advanced from the special Democratic primary for South Carolina House of Representatives District 97.

Republican primary election

##### Special Republican primary for South Carolina House of Representatives District 97

Robby Robbins defeated Candace Jennings in the special Republican primary for South Carolina House of Representatives District 97 on March 8, 2022.

Candidate

Votes

|
|
|

✔ |

| Robby Robbins |

58.8

| 922

| Candace Jennings |

41.2

| 647

* * *

There were no incumbents in this race. Source

| Total votes: 1,569

|
|

= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

### May 24, 2022[edit]

South Carolina House of Representatives District 18 |

|

See also: South Carolina state legislative special elections, 2022

A special election for South Carolina House of Representatives District 18 was called for May 24, 2022. A primary took place on March 22, 2022. The candidate filing deadline passed on January 29, 2022.[7]

The seat became vacant after Rep. Tommy Stringer (R) resigned on January 5, 2022.[8]

General election

##### Special general election for South Carolina House of Representatives District 18

Alan Morgan won election in the special general election for South Carolina House of Representatives District 18 on May 24, 2022.

|  |

Candidate

Votes

|
|
|

✔ |

| Alan Morgan (R)  |

86.4

| 273
|  | Other/Write-in votes |

13.6

| 43

* * *

There were no incumbents in this race. Source

| Total votes: 316

|
|

= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

##### Special Republican primary for South Carolina House of Representatives District 18

Alan Morgan defeated Keith Jones, Dakota Fitzgerald, and Wyatt Miler in the special Republican primary for South Carolina House of Representatives District 18 on March 22, 2022.

Candidate

Votes

|
|
|

✔ |

| Alan Morgan |

59.8

| 1,002

| Keith Jones |

27.2

| 456

| Dakota Fitzgerald |

11.7

| 196

| Wyatt Miler |

1.3

| 21

* * *

There were no incumbents in this race. Source

| Total votes: 1,675

|
|

= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

#### Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

* Jason Ross (R)
* M. Lee Dumas (R)

## Historical data[edit]

There were 848 state legislative special elections that took place from 2010 to 2021. South Carolina held 33 special elections during the same time period; about three per year on average. The largest number of special elections in South Carolina took place in 2017 when six special elections were held.

The table below details how many state legislative special elections were held in a state in a given year.

## Special elections throughout the country[edit]

See also: State legislative special elections, 2022

As of July 2022, 49 state legislative special elections have been scheduled for 2022 in 22 states. Between 2011 and 2021, an average of 74 special elections took place each year.

### Breakdown of 2022 special elections[edit]

In 2022, special elections for state legislative positions are being held for the following reasons:

* 21 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
* 23 due to resignation
* 5 due to the death of the incumbent

### Impact of special elections on partisan composition[edit]

The partisan breakdown for the special elections is as follows:

* 33 Democratic seats
* 16 Republican seats

As of July 1, 2022, Republicans controlled 54.27% of all state legislative seats nationally, while Democrats held 44.41%. Republicans held a majority in 62 chambers, and Democrats held the majority in 36 chambers. One chamber (Alaska House) was organized under a multipartisan, power-sharing coalition.[9]

Partisan balance of all 7,383 state legislative seats

Legislative chamber  |  |  |  Other  | Vacant
State senates | 862  | 1,095  | 8  | 7
State houses | 2,417  | 2,908  | 33  | 53
Total: | 3,279

| 4,003

| 41

| 60

The table below details how many seats changed parties as the result of a special election in 2022. 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.

Note: This table reflects information for elections that have been held and not the total number of vacant seats.

Partisan Change from Special Elections (2022)

Party  | As of Special Election  | After Special Election
| Democratic Party | 29  | 30
| Republican Party | 12  | 11
| Independent  | 0  | 0
Total |  41  |  41

### Flipped seats[edit]

In 2022, as of July, one seat flipped as a result of state legislative special elections.

#### Seats flipped from R to D[edit]

* Michigan House of Representatives District 74 (May 3)

## See also[edit]

* State legislative special elections, 2022
* State legislative special elections, 2021
* State legislative special elections, 2020
* South Carolina State Legislature

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ [http://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t07c013.php South Carolina State Legislature, "South Carolina Code," accessed February 17, 2021 (Statute 7-13-190 (A)-(B))
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 South Carolina State Legislature, "South Carolina Code," accessed February 17, 2021 (Statute 7-13-190 (B))
3. ↑ South Carolina State Legislature, "South Carolina Constitution," accessed February 17, 2021 (Article 3, Section 25)
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 WBTW News 13, "Schedule set for special election to fill Hugh Leatherman’s seat," November 16, 2021
5. ↑ South Carolina Election Commission, "Special elections," accessed January 14, 2022
6. ↑ WCSC, "Lowcountry state representative resigns from House," December 22, 2021
7. ↑ South Carolina Election Commission, "Special elections," accessed March 22, 2022
8. ↑ US News, "Rep Stringer 2nd Republican to Leave SC House Before Session," January 10, 2022
9. ↑ Nebraska is officially nonpartisan but was held by a Republican majority. For more information on how Ballotpedia determined the partisan affiliation for Nebraska senators, please click here.

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