ANDERSON COUNTY RACE ROLLS ON …
Former Pendleton, S.C. mayor Carol Burdette and Upstate businessman/ social conservative activist Richard Cash have advanced to a Republican runoff in the race for South Carolina Senate District 3 (map).
Burdette received 30.5 percent of the vote (2,400 ballots) while Cash received 25.8 percent (2,030 ballots) for this Anderson County seat, according to the S.C. Election Commission (SCEC).
Third-place finisher Johnny Tucker got 23.2 percent (1,821 ballots).
In other words, our sources hit the nail on the head in their projections for this race.
All told, 7,880 voters participated in the GOP primary election – an anemic 11 percent turnout rate. Because no candidate received a majority of those votes, state law calls for a runoff election between the top two partisan primary finishers to be held two weeks after the initial balloting (on April 25).
The special election itself is set for May 30, but with no Democrats running that round of balloting is just a formality.
For those who don’t recall, this seat was vacated back in January by Kevin Bryant, who was briefly elected president pro tempore of the State Senate prior to “ascending” to the office of lieutenant governor.
For more on that drama, click here …
Bryant narrowly defeated Burdette last spring in a GOP primary race. It’s not clear yet whether he will engage in the runoff election, but we’re told the lieutenant governor’s wife – Ann Bryant – hasn’t been at all shy in stating her opposition to Burdette.
In fact we’ve got an item coming on that momentarily …
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