Special election for Columbia’s next SC senator is Tuesday. What you need to know

In case it snuck up on you, Tuesday is primary day in the state Senate’s District 20.

The district covers much of downtown Columbia and the Chapin-Irmo area. But it has been without a voice in the state Senate since longtime Republican state Sen. John Courson was suspended last year after he was indicted in the State House corruption probe.

Courson resigned in June and entered a guilty plea to a charge of misconduct in office related to the misuse of his campaign spending account, triggering the special election.

Here is what you need to know:

Who can vote?

Both Democrats and Republicans will vote in primaries Tuesday.

Any registered voter in the district can vote in either party’s primary but not both.

If no candidate wins a majority in either primary, there will be a runoff two weeks later, on Aug. 28. The general election face-off between the two primary winners will be Nov. 6.

When and where do I vote?

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday. If you are standing in line at 7 p.m., the polls have to stay open until you cast your ballot.

District 20 stretches from the southern neighborhoods of Columbia to the northwest, along Interstate 26, into portions of Lexington County. In Richland County, 39 precincts are in District 20, while nine in Lexington also will vote on the new senator.

You can find out if you are in the district and locate your polling place online at SCVotes.org.

Who’s running in the Democratic primary?

The most high-profile candidate in the District 20 race is former S.C. Democratic Party chairman Dick Harpootlian. The sharp-tongued attorney is focusing his campaign on corruption at the State House. Previously, he was on Richland County Council and was the area’s solicitor. He also has connections in the national Democratic Party built over his career.

Harpootlian faces two other Democrats in Tuesday’s primary.

Kyle Lacio is running as a working-class candidate. He is a driver who often takes contract deliveries and transports personal passengers. He has been involved in progressive activism dating back to Occupy Columbia in 2011, and touts endorsements from the S.C. AFL-CIO and the Bernie Sanders-linked group Our Revolution.

Dayna Alane Smith is a health insurance worker and activist who would be the first openly transgender member of the S.C. Legislature. Among other issues, she promises to protect bars in Columbia’s Five Points that she says have been put in danger by litigation spearheaded by Harpootlian.

Who’s running in the Republican primary?

Four Republicans have filed for Courson’s old seat.

▪ Benjamin Dunn is a Ballentine attorney who previously ran unsuccessfully against U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham in a 2014 GOP primary. Dunn has taken aim at Richland County and the city of Columbia in trying to rally GOP voters in the I-26 corridor of the district.

▪ John Holler is a United Methodist minister and head of the Epworth Children’s Home running with a focus on family and children’s issues.

▪ Christian Stegmaier is a Chapin attorney running on a conservative platform of self-imposing term limits as a way to clean up the state Legislature.

▪ Bill Turbeville is a Columbia insurance agent running on his business background. Turbeville is the most well-funded candidate in the GOP race, putting a $20,000 personal loan into his campaign. However, he has been criticized for moving into an apartment in the district shortly before the seat came open.

What do I need to vote?

S.C. law says you need one of these IDs to vote: an S.C. driver’s license, a photo ID issued by the state Department of Motor Vehicles, a photo voter registration card, a military ID or a U.S. passport.

However, would-be voters without a photo ID can vote if they can cite a “reasonable impediment” to getting one. Among the acceptable excuses: a disability or illness, a work conflict, a lack of transportation, family responsibilities, a lack of a birth certificate or a religious objection to being photographed.

This story was originally published August 13, 2018 at 1:34 PM.