Wednesday, Jun. 11, 2008

Senate 19: Scott holds 77-vote margin

State Rep. John L. Scott Jr. appears to have eked out a narrow victory over Richland 1 school board member Vince Ford on Tuesday to claim a seat in the S.C. Senate.

Scott carried just over half the votes cast in one of the closest races of primary night — so close the vote might have triggered an automatic recount.

If the unofficial results hold, Scott, the longest-serving African-American member of the S.C. House, would take the seat of Columbia’s colorful, outgoing Sen. Kay Patterson, who is retiring this month after serving more than three decades in the General Assembly.

Scott, who said he had anticipated a tough fight, said it’s now time to “bring the people back together again and build relationships” to govern.

“Anytime you go into a new seat, it’s going to be a tough race,” Scott said. “The tough issue of the day was education — there are a lot of educators in this district, and it will take time to build relationships.”

Scott, 54, a transportation consultant and real estate broker, led Ford by 77 votes, less than 1 percent of the more than 8,000 ballots cast in the race, which would trigger the automatic recount.

“We ran a good race. We ran a strong race, a very positive, upbeat race,” said Ford, 50, a senior vice president at Palmetto Health. “It appears we just came up a little short.”

But the voters have spoken, Ford said, adding that any prospect of a recount lies in the hands of the State Election Commission. Ford, who has served on the Richland 1 school board for 16 years, said he will seek another term on the board later this year. Elected to the House in 2000, Scott sought the Senate seat once held by former state NAACP leader the late Rev. I. DeQuincey Newman, based on his decades of legislative experience.

Scott has served on several House committees and once chaired the Legislative Black Caucus. He has become one of the Legislature’s most vocal leaders on youth crime and gang violence.

Ford, who was born and raised in a Columbia housing project, campaigned largely on health care, education and quality of life issues. He advocated full state funding for 4-K kindergarten and has warned about the danger imposed by higher college tuition costs.County election officials are expected to review the Senate District 19 election results, after which the State Election Commission is expected to review them, along with any challenges brought by the candidates.