Who will run for Richland's vacant state Senate seat? Not Nathan Ballentine

State Rep. Nathan Ballentine won’t run for Richland County’s newly vacant state Senate seat.

The Chapin Republican's decision leaves the GOP — at least for now — without an obvious candidate to defend the red district, held by Republicans for decades.

Ballentine opted to remain in the S.C. House over what was sure to be a heated race for the seat left empty when former Senate Education Committee chairman John Courson resigned and entered a guilty plea to misconduct. In a statement, Ballentine hinted he prefers his relative seniority in the House to the Senate, where he would have none.

"I ran for re-election to the State House this year because we need the best representation possible for our community — and state," the seven-term House veteran wrote. "My tenure and relationships in the House are important and can impact the lives of those who reside in this community. "

Former S.C. Democratic Party chairman Dick Harpootlian announced last week he would run to replace Courson in the Senate's District 20.

Filing for the seat begins Friday and ends June 30.

District 20 stretches from downtown Columbia to the Irmo-Ballentine-Chapin area. The district has been redrawn in recent years to increase the probability of a Republican winning it, but it remains competitive.

In 2010, Democrat Vincent Sheheen carried the district by 6.4 percentage points over Republican Nikki Haley, who won the statewide race. The lines were redrawn after that race.

Sheheen won the district by 0.71 percent in his 2014 rematch with Haley.

President Donald Trump won the district by 1.86 percent in 2016, topping Democrat Hillary Clinton, who is deeply unpopular in South Carolina.

This story was originally published June 18, 2018 at 7:43 AM with the headline "Who will run for Richland's vacant state Senate seat? Not Nathan Ballentine."