Lee Bright on track to return to SC Senate; House District 21 going to a runoff
Former state Sen. Lee Bright of Spartanburg County appears to be headed back to the upper chamber.
According to Tuesday’s unofficial results in the GOP primary in the state Senate District 12 race, Bright finished with 50.9% of the vote to complete state Sen. Roger Nutt’s term. The district covers parts of Spartanburg and Greenville counties.
Nutt announced his resignation in August after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
Bright, like when he ran in 2024, finished first in the primary, but this time received a majority of the votes to win the nomination and avoid a runoff.
- Bright received 2,549 votes (50.9%)
- Hope Blackley received 1,363 votes (27.22%)
- Justin Bradley received 1,096 votes (21.88%).
A Democrat who filed to run for the seat withdrew before the primaries. Bright will be the lone candidate on the ballot in the Dec. 23 special election.
Bright, who previously served in the state Senate but lost his seat to former state Sen. Scott Talley, had the money advantage as of Oct. 1, according Ethics Commission filings. He raised $103,000, spent nearly $35,000 and had $68,000 cash on hand.
Bradley, a former Spartanburg County Council member, raised $7,500, spent less than $2,800 and had $4,700 cash on hand as of Oct. 1. The Senate GOP caucus opted to back Bradley in the race, Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey confirmed to The State.
Blackley, a former Spartanburg County Clerk of Court who ran in 2024 for the state Senate seat, raised $36,000, spent $14,000 and had more than $37,000 as of Oct. 1. She carried over more than $13,000 from her 2024 campaign, Ethics Commission records show.
Cash is key especially in a special election with an abbreviated campaign period. Candidates need to spend money just to tell people there’s a special election and to get people to the polls.
House District 21
The Republican race for state Rep. Bobby Cox’s unfinished term will continue for two more weeks as no one received a majority of the votes in Tuesday’s primary.
Steve Nail and Dianne Mitchell are headed for a runoff as the top two vote getters in the GOP primary in House District 21, according to unofficial results.
- Nail received 862 votes (38.97%)
- Mitchell received 818 votes (36.98%)
- Reggy C. Batson received 453 votes (20.48%)
- Jack Stott received 79 votes (3.57%).
Whoever wins the Republican nomination goes on to a Dec. 23 special election, but no Democrat filed to run in the district, which lies entirely in Greenville County.
Cox was an original member of the hard-line conservative Freedom Caucus but then left the group. He, however, did not have a primary challenger in 2024 when the House GOP Caucus and the Freedom Caucus had more than 30 primary battles.
House District 21 is a seat prime for a Freedom Caucus pick up. Former House Freedom Caucus Chairman Adam Morgan carried House District 21 in his unsuccessful primary challenge of U.S. Rep. William Timmons in the 4th Congressional District, Morgan.
Mitchell’s campaign was backed by eight Freedom Caucus members and two former state representatives who were members of the group.
The House GOP Caucus, which has been at odds with the Freedom Caucus, backed Batson in this election.
