South Carolina state representative Dwight Loftis won the Republican nomination for an Upstate Senate seat vacated in November by William Timmons – the victor in last year’s election for the Palmetto State’s fourth congressional district.
Loftis handily defeated Greenville, S.C. city councilwoman Amy Ryberg Doyle on Tuesday evening in a special primary election for S.C. Senate District 6 (map) – drawing an estimated 55.4 percent of the nearly 5,700 ballots cast. Ryberg Doyle came in second with 40.4 percent of the vote, while third-place finisher Jeffrey Stringer wound up being supported by roughly four percent of voters.
Because Loftis eclipsed the fifty percent threshold on the first ballot, he avoids having to face Ryberg Doyle in a runoff election in two weeks time.
The 75-year-old lawmaker now advances to a special election against Democrat Tina Belge on March 26.
Given the staunchly conservative bent of the district, we do not expect Belge to pose much of a challenge to Loftis.
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