Primary results push newcomes to the top

Depending on who you ask, the June 12 primary election was full of twists and turns.

Republican “buzz saw” Catherine Templeton lost her bid for governor, despite an aggressive political campaign. Newcomer Katie Arrington claimed victory in the race for the Republican nomination for South Carolina’s First Congressional District seat, ousting longtime political stalwart Mark Sanford. Governor Henry McMaster was forced into a runoff election against John Warren, despite his Trump endorsement. Whether shocked or not, the first round of elections is over for the 2018 midterm, and things are just heating up for the general election on November 6.

Governor McMaster will face off against self-proclaimed political outsider and businessman John Warren in the June 26 Republican runoff election. While McMaster won the majority of votes in the election (42.3 percent), he did not win enough to avoid a second round with Warren, who gained 27.83 percent. The winner of the runoff will go up against Democrat James Smith in the November general election. Smith defeated Marguerite Willis and Phil Noble in the Democratic primary with a commanding lead of 61.81 percent of the vote.

The most talked about upset of the night was Sanford’s loss to Arrington. The fight came down to only four percent, but Arrington edged out a victory with 50.56 percent of the vote. While there’s plenty of debate regarding how much President Trump’s last minute pro-Arrington tweet hindered Sanford’s chances of victory, Sanford’s lack of unshakable praise for Trump was a key talking point for Arrington during her primary campaign. Sanford took a moment out of his humble concession speech to tell Americans to listen to each other despite political stance and issued a warning about certain philosophies to modern Republicans.

“There is a belief, based on people’s legitimate frustrations with Washington, which is what brought about the whole Trump era that maybe we just need to throw out the institutions of Washington and start all over,” said Sanford. “To do so would be a grave mistake. Our Founding Fathers had an amazing wisdom in the way that they created a political system.”

At the time this article went to print, Arrington had not responded to multiple requests for a comment on her victory.

The Democratic nominee for the First Congressional District race will be Joe Cunningham, another proud newcomer. Although his campaign has been mostly about defeating Mark Sanford, Cunningham was quick to comment on his new opponent and her agenda.

“Voters will have a clear choice for Congress in November,” said Cunningham. “Katie Arrington is a Columbia insider who ran for Congress simply to support Donald Trump. I’m a first time candidate, new Dad and an ocean engineer who simply wants to support the Lowcountry. I want to fix our crumbling roads and bridges, bring down healthcare costs and reform a corrupt political system. And I’ll work with anyone - Democrat or Republican - to deliver results for the Lowcountry.”

Berkeley County Supervisor Bill Peagler lost to Hanahan City Manager Johnny Cribb in the Republican primary for the county’s top administrative post. There will be no Democratic challenger in November.

“I’m very appreciative of the support our campaign received from the residents of Berkeley County,” said Cribb. “I’m also thankful for the feedback I have received the last six months by communicating directly with residents and businesses.”

Cribb said that his plans for the future of Berkeley County are to serve with humility, work hard, and to surround himself with the right people to make informed decisions. He will take office on January 1, 2019. Peagler was elected to the seat in November 2014.

VOTER TURNOUT

A total of 23,585 total ballots were cast in Berkeley County in the primary election out of 119,067 registered voters, meaning 19.81 percent of Berkeley voters participated in this example of democracy. In local precincts, Daniel Island 1 brought out the most voters with 23.16 percent of registered voters casting ballots. Cainhoy came in second with 18.28 percent. The Yellow House precinct brought out the least with 13.65 percent.