Narrow margin in SC House District 21 race. District 98 GOP race heads to runoff
The Upstate House District 21 race remains close with all precincts reporting in the GOP runoff to replace state Rep. Bobby Cox.
According to Tuesday’s unofficial results, Dianne Mitchell leads with 1,536 votes for 50.36%. Steve Nail received 1,514 votes for 49.64%.
However, when a vote margin is less than 1% of the total votes in the race, it triggers an automatic recount.
No Democrat filed to run for the Greenville County seat, so whoever wins the GOP nomination is on track to win the Dec. 23 special election.
The race was a battle between the House GOP caucus and hard-line conservative SC House Freedom Caucus, which have butted heads over tactics used by the Freedom Caucus.
Nail was backed by the House GOP Caucus and Dianne Mitchell was backed by many members of the Freedom Caucus.
Even though Cox was not a member of the Freedom Caucus, the district was seen as a pickup opportunity for the hard-line group. When then-Freedom Caucus chairman, former state Rep. Adam Morgan challenged U.S. Rep. William Timmons in the 4th Congressional District GOP primary, Timmons prevailed in the primary, but Morgan received 54% of the votes in the District 21 precincts.
District 98 primaries
Voters in Dorchester County also are picking a replacement for state Rep. Chris Murphy, R-Dorchester, who resigned in August.
Brian Hill and Greg Ford are moving on to a Republican runoff Nov. 18.
Sonja Ogletree Satani, who ran last year against Murphy, won the Democratic nomination for the special election.
- Satani received 878 votes for 57.69% of the vote.
- Stephen Kohn received 438 votes for 28.78% of the vote.
- Damian Daly received 206 votes for 13.53% of the vote.
The special election is Jan. 6, and could be a possible pickup for Democrats if they’re able to mobilize enough voters. But the Republican primary drew more voters than the Democratic contest Tuesday.
- Hill: 741 votes for 43.26%
- Ford: 675 votes for 39.4%
- David Johnston: 297 votes for 17.34%
Murphy, who had been in the House since 2011, outperformed President Donald Trump in the 2024 election showing the power of incumbency of a local elected official. Trump won the district in 2024 by 6 points.