One race or two? SC House candidate accuses opponent of running for another job

One race for the S.C. State House is being complicated by another.

S.C. Rep. Nathan Ballentine is running for an eighth term representing District 71 in northwestern Richland County. He faces a challenge from Todd Watlington and Britton Wolf in the Republican primary on Tuesday.

But Ballentine has also expressed interest in the Senate seat held by now former Sen. John Courson, who resigned after pleading guilty to official misconduct charges in a long-running State House corruption probe.

A special election for Courson's Richland County seat will kick off shortly after Tuesday's primary race, which has at least one of Ballentine's opponents thinking Ballentine may already be looking ahead to another race.

"I challenge Rep. Ballentine to either drop out of the race now and prepare for a Senate run, or promise to serve the people of our district for a full term in the House if re-elected," said Wolf, a high school lacrosse coach and former logistics supervisor, in a press release Thursday.

Ballentine declined to speculate on a potential Senate run when contacted by The State on Monday, after Courson's resignation.

"The fact remains that I am in a primary election fight for the State House, and all of my focus and interests are on that race," Ballentine said. "Any speculation on the Senate seat will have to wait till a later date."

Ballentine reiterated that stance in an email to The State on Thursday, but didn't respond when asked if he would rule out seeking the District 20 Senate seat.

"My opponent has been funded by thousands from out of state groups and he has plenty of time to sit back and play silly political games, but I don’t," he said. "That is why I’m focused 100% on this house seat right now."

If no candidate wins a majority of the vote in Tuesday's primary, the top two will go to a runoff on June 26. That contest falls in the middle of the filing period for the Senate special election, open from June 22 to June 30.

The vote to choose Courson's successor will be Nov. 6, the same day as the general election for the S.C. House of Representatives. The winner of the GOP primary won't face any opposition in the fall.

This story was originally published June 8, 2018 at 10:09 AM with the headline "One race or two? SC House candidate accuses opponent of running for another job."