2022 Primary Elections

SCFOR tracked thirty-two (32) incumbent races in the June 14 Primary Elections for the SC House. These races covered the whole gamut this year, with long-serving members, House leadership, and newly elected members facing challengers. In all, a total of seven incumbents lost their seats:

• Rep. Rita Allison (R- Spartanburg)
• Rep. Lin Bennett (R-Charleston)
• Rep. Wendy Brawley (D-Richland)
• Rep. West Cox (R-Spartanburg)
• Rep. Vic Dabney (R-Kershaw)
• Rep. Rick Martin (R-Newberry)
• Rep. Brian White (R-Anderson)

A look at all incumbent races is illustrated below. A full tracking list for races for the SC House, Governor, US House, and US Senate can be found here. 

Joe White won the Primary run-off for House District 60.

Roger Kirby won the run-off for House District 101.

Open Seats Closer to Being Filled, Runoffs and General Elections for Some

Following retirements and redistricting, there are 15 open seats in the SC House of Representatives. Ten (10) of those seats had primary races, and a few primaries in the open seats were a winner take all event, as the winners will not face opposition in November, including two candidates who ran unopposed in the Primaries. 

• Republican Cody Mitchell ran uncontested to fill the seat held by the former Speaker, Rep. Jay Lucas. 
• Republican Brandon Cox ran uncontested to fill the seat held by Rep. Joe Daning in Berkeley County. 
• Heath Sessions won the primary to fill the York County seat (Dist.46) currently held by Rep. Gary Simrill (retiring).
• David Vaughan won the primary to fill the Greenville County seat (Dist. 27) currently held by Rep. Garry Smith (retiring). 

Official election results for all races can be found on the SC Election Commission website, click here. 

*All candidate photos were sourced from the SC legislative website, legislative caucuses, campaign websites, and/or campaign-related social media pages. Some candidates did not have websites or social media pages for photos to be included in this report.