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    • What do the South Carolina election results mean? Here’s a closer look
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    What do the South Carolina election results mean? Here’s a closer look

    Umito Posted on

    South Carolina maintained its ruby-red dominance after Election Day, led by President-elect Donald Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris by 18 percentage points.

    Governor Henry McMaster posted on X Wednesday morningcalling it a “great day for America” and congratulating Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance.

    “I look forward to working together to build a better future for our people, help South Carolina continue to prosper, and ultimately make America great again!” » he said.

    While Tuesday’s election results strengthen the Republican Party’s position in the Palmetto State, the implications of the final votes will be felt in Congress, the Legislature and county councils and will create little or no resistance in priorities of the Republican Party such as abortion. and school choice.

    The Republican Party retained its supermajority in the House and gained a supermajority in the Senate for the first time in 150 years after winning four seats, allowing it to easily end the filibuster.

    Drew McKissick, chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party, said no Republican incumbent has lost a statewide race. The party was able to capitalize on higher Republican turnout, with Trump at the top of the ticket. More than 67% of registered voters in the state cast ballots.

    Sheri Biggs makes history, will that be a factor?

    Congressional candidates also defended their seats against their challengers. Sheri Biggs will join U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC 1st district) as the only two women in South Carolina’s congressional delegation and will be the first woman to represent the Third District.

    Biggs defeated several opponents and a runoff against Trump-backed Mark Burns in the June Republican primary. Biggs’ campaign focused on her experience as a certified family nurse practitioner and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner.

    “Washington has a health problem – mental, fiscal and spiritual – and it is tantalizingly close to bringing our nation to its knees. It is time to heal our nation,” his campaign website reads.

    Biggs also did not campaign on her gender, as her campaign rhetoric focused primarily on border security and her experience as a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard.

    Democrat defeated, but fundraising set record

    In the next district, after a grueling primary, U.S. Rep. William Timmons (R-SC 4th district) easily won with 60% of the vote against Kathryn Harvey, the Democratic challenger. Harvey was seeking to become the first Democrat to represent the district since the 1990s.

    In 2020, Timmons won by another wide margin against Democratic challenger Kim Nelson. He received 61% of the votes. He had no challenger in 2022.

    Timmons was criticized by Harvey for campaigning in other states, such as Pennsylvania or Georgia. “At the end of the day, we were going to win this district,” Timmons said, arguing that “it was better to spend your time helping people in the hard-working, close-by districts.”

    Harvey was undeterred during her campaign and raised more than $483,000, the highest amount a Democratic candidate has raised in the race for the district.

    “Together, we ran an aggressive but clean campaign that prioritized the urgent needs of upstate families and held our three-term congressman accountable for his harmful, party-line voting record Although we failed to overthrow SC-04 this time, the accomplishments of our campaign speak for themselves,” Harvey said.

    More: ‘Jubilation’: South Carolina Republicans dominate federal, state and local elections

    Inverted seats create a supermajority

    The state also saw the entire Statehouse run for office. On Tuesday, the Republican Party flipped four seats in the state Senate, giving it a Republican supermajority.

    “Today, Palmetto State residents voted to send four new Republican senators to Columbia, affirming that the values ​​of safe communities, fiscal responsibility, family integrity and educational freedom find resonate with South Carolinians,” Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey said in a statement. “The Senate Republican caucus has strategically invested in strong candidates and successfully created competitive races, even in traditionally Democratic districts. I look forward to working alongside these new senators to defend the conservative victories that make South Carolina an even better place to live, work and raise a family. »

    “Only” a citizen can vote

    Statewide, voters agreed to a constitutional amendment that will amend Section 4 of Article II of the South Carolina Constitution, requiring that “only” one citizen may vote.

    Greenville GOP Chair Yvonne Julian said the constitutional amendment would act as an “additional safeguard against people voting illegally.”

    “It’s sad to say that there are people in the country who want this to happen,” Julian said.

    It is already illegal for a non-citizen to vote, and there is no evidence that non-citizens vote in South Carolina.

    The amendment was adopted by a large majority. With about 98% of counties responding, more than 85% of voters approved the measure.

    South Carolina was not alone in approving the measure. Seven states had similar measures on the ballot that all passed, including North Carolina.

    Critics say the amendment was unnecessary because it is already illegal to vote as a non-citizen in South Carolina and fear the amendment could lead to voter suppression, such as passing laws requiring one to present a proof of vote. citizenship through a passport or birth certificate.

    Infrastructure solution will challenge new council

    At the local level, Anderson and Greenville counties have rejected measures that would increase local sales taxes to fund road improvements.

    In Greenville, the motion failed by three percentage points. The proposed increase would have increased the local sales tax in Greenville County from 6% to 7% to fund road improvements.

    Republican Liz Seman, who defeated her Constitutional Party challenger John Langville on Tuesday, said the narrow margin further shows that “the message is that infrastructure is important.”

    “We certainly hear all the time that infrastructure is a challenge, and so that’s an issue that the new council will have to deal with in January,” Seman said.

    In January, four new councilors will join the Greenville County Council after defeating three incumbents in the June primary. Frank Farmer, who won the GOP nomination for Greenville County Council District 22 after Councilman Stan Tzouvelekas opted for a run for the state seat, defeated Democratic challenger Karine Debaty.

    Greenville County residents are also generally opposed to new taxes, as evidenced by the ouster of three incumbents, Butch Kirven, Chris Harrison and Mike Barnes, who all voted in favor of raising property taxes last August.

    Elected Greenville County Council members Garey Collins, Curt McGahhey and Kelly Long were unopposed in the general election and all campaigned against the tax increase.

    All four newly elected council members opposed and spoke out against the penny sales tax. in July.

    Currently, only 28 to 32 county roads can be paved each year, even though we have 1,800 miles of road. The roads are deteriorating, county employees Tee Coker and Hesha Gamble said more than a year ago. The problem will only get worse as more people move to the county.

    It remains unclear how Greenville County will work on road improvements. Some city councilors have suggested in the past that the solution lies in increasing budget funds to improve roads.

    The county spends about $78 million a year on roads. This includes several funding methods, such as the state Department of Transportation contributing $27 million and state gas taxes contributing $4 million. Greenville County allocates $12 million from its annual budget.

    The South Carolina chapter of Americans for Prosperity said in a statement that it was “pleased to see that the burden of improving the state’s infrastructure will not be placed on South Carolinians, as Greenville already receives millions of dollars in transportation revenue that could and should be used for road repairs.” .”

    “We want to promote policies that ensure families keep more of their hard-earned money by flattening the tax code over time, without covering the government bill for road expenses, and today’s decision is a promising step in the right direction,” said Candace. Carroll, the organization’s director of public affairs.

    In Anderson County, the measure failed by seven percentage points. This would have raised $366 million for road improvements.

    Savannah Moss covers SC government and politics for the Greenville News. Contact her at [email protected] or @savmoss on X.

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