2010 South Carolina elections

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Elections were held in South Carolina on Tuesday, November 2, 2010. Primary elections were held on June 8, 2010, and a run-off election for certain contests was held on June 22, 2010.

Contents

Federal

United States Senate

Republican incumbent Jim DeMint was seeking re-election to the United States Senate, facing Democratic contender Alvin Greene and Green Party candidate Tom Clements.

United States House

All six of South Carolina's seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 2010.

State

Governor

Incumbent Republican Governor Mark Sanford was term-limited and unable to seek re-election. Republican Nikki Haley and Democrat Vincent Sheheen, along with third-party candidate Morgan Bruce Reeves, contested the seat. The gubernatorial race was one of the closest in the state, as well as the country, despite the Republican wave on both the state and national level that year. Haley gained national attention as the first non-white and first woman Republican nominee for governor in South Carolina, and for her associations with the national Tea Party and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who endorsed her in the primary. Haley eventually won the race.

Lieutenant governor

Republican Ken Ard and Democrat Ashley Cooper were the major party nominees for lieutenant governor. Incumbent Andre Bauer decided not to run for re-election in order to run for governor. He came in fourth in the GOP primary. Ard won the general election. A little over a year after being sworn in, he resigned after being indicted for misappropriation of campaign funds for personal expenses.

Ard, a businessman and Florence County Councilman, won a four-way primary after a run-off with Bill Connor, a veteran and attorney in Orangeburg. Other candidates were Larry Richter, a former state judge and former state Senator from Mount Pleasant, and Eleanor Kitzman, former director of the state Department of Insurance.

Republican Lieutenant Governor primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Ken Ard132,60233.70
Republican Bill Connor107,73127.38
Republican Larry Richter95,48324.26
Republican Eleanor Kitzman57,70014.66
Total votes393,516 100
Republican Lieutenant Governor primary run-off results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Ken Ard207,80461.34
Republican Bill Connor130,99738.66
Total votes338,801 100
South Carolina Lieutenant Governor election, 2010 [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Republican Ken Ard 735,089 55.16% +5.16%
Democratic Ashley Cooper596,62044.77%-5.03%
Write-ins1,0120.08%
Majority138,46910.39%+10.09%
Turnout 1,332,72150.48%+6.28%
Republican hold Swing

Secretary of State

Republican Mark Hammond ran for re-election as Secretary of State of South Carolina against Democrat Marjorie Johnson, a retired spokeswoman for a Washington, D.C. municipal sanitation corporation. Neither faced primary opposition.

South Carolina Secretary of State election, 2010 [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Republican Mark Hammond (incumbent) 805,783 60.91% -0.89%
Democratic Marjorie Johnson516,41439.04%+0.34%
Write-ins6380.05%
Majority289,36921.87%-0.63%
Turnout 1,322,83550.10%+6.30%
Republican hold Swing

Treasurer

Republican Curtis Loftis ran unopposed for the office of Treasurer of South Carolina. He defeated acting Treasurer Converse Chellis in the Republican primary. Chellis was appointed to the position by Governor Sanford after his predecessor, Thomas Ravenel, was convicted of possessing cocaine with intent to distribute and resigned. Loftis, the Director of Transparency at the Office of the Comptroller General, received some negative coverage when Chellis ran negative ads attacking him for having been arrested for assaulting his wife. (Loftis was later found not guilty.)

Republican Treasurer primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Curtis Loftis239,29661.60
Republican Converse Chellis (incumbent)149,19138.40
Total votes388,487 100
South Carolina Treasurer election, 2010 [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Republican Curtis Loftis 907,755 98.94% +46.74%
Write-ins9,7481.06%+0.94%
Majority898,00797.88%+93.48%
Turnout 917,50334.75%-9.45%
Republican hold Swing

Attorney general

2010 South Carolina Attorney General election
Flag of South Carolina.svg
← 2006
2014  →
  JAG Passing Alan Wilson.jpg 3x4.svg
Nominee Alan Wilson Matthew Richardson
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote716,193589,135
Percentage53.7%44.2%
2010 South Carolina Attorney General election.svg
County results
Wilson:      40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%
Richardson:      40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%
Attorney General before election

Alan Wilson
Republican

Elected Attorney General

Alan Wilson
Republican

Republican Alan Wilson, Democrat Matthew Richardson, and Green Party candidate Leslie Wilson were the nominees for attorney general. Wilson is the son of controversial South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson. The race was marked by high fundraising totals for both Wilson and Richardson, second only to the governor's race in total money raised and spent in the general election. Wilson eventually won.

In the Republican primary, Wilson faced two other challengers: Columbia attorneys Leighton Lord and Robert Bolchoz. Wilson eventually defeated Leighton Lord in a run-off.

Republican Attorney General primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Alan Wilson150,40438.94
Republican Leighton Lord143,33937.12
Republican Robert Bolchoz92,45723.94
Total votes386,200 100
Republican Attorney General primary run-off results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Alan Wilson205,85159.79
Republican Leighton Lord138,44440.21
Total votes344,295 100
South Carolina Attorney General election, 2010 [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Republican Alan Wilson 716,193 53.74% -44.66%
Democratic Matthew Richardson589,13544.20%+44.20%
Green Leslie Minerd27,0082.03%+2.03%
Write-ins4700.04%
Majority127,0589.52%-88.88%
Turnout 1,332,80650.48%+18.48%
Republican hold Swing

Comptroller General

Incumbent Republican Richard Eckstrom ran for re-election against Democratic challenger Robert Barber. Although Eckstrom attracted negative attention over his affair with Kelly Payne, [3] one of the GOP candidates for Superintendent of Education, he eventually won.

In the Republican primary, Eckstrom defeated challenger Mike Meilinger, an accountant and consultant from Greenville.

Republican Comptroller General primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Richard Eckstrom (incumbent)254,71468.74
Republican Mike Meilinger115,81331.26
Total votes370,527 100
South Carolina Comptroller General election, 2010 [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Republican Richard Eckstrom (incumbent) 746,841 56.50% +3.3%
Democratic Robert Barber 574,30243.45%-3.25%
Write-ins7190.05%
Majority172,53913.05%+6.45%
Turnout 1,321,86250.07%+7.37%
Republican hold Swing

Superintendent of Education

Candidates for Superintendent of Education in South Carolina included Republican Mick Zais, Democrat Frank Holleman, and third-party candidates Doretha Bull, Tony Fayyazi, and Tim Moultrie. Zais did little campaigning in the general, despite the relatively high fundraising totals posted by Holleman, a former United States Deputy Secretary of Education and South Carolina State Democratic Party Chairman. The general election race became the third most expensive statewide race in South Carolina in 2010, and one of the higher profile, in part because the perception that the outcome could be as close as it had been in 2006. However, Zais eventually won.

Zais, a retired brigadier general and president of Newberry College, defeated Elizabeth Moffly in the GOP primary run-off. Moffly, a 2006 candidate for the Republican nomination, did surprisingly well considering her low fundraising and poor result in the 2006 contest. Other candidates included: Kelly Payne, an Irmo teacher; Gary Burgess, a former Laurens County school administrator who was arrested in 2009 for soliciting an immoral act; [4] Brent Nelsen, a political science professor at Furman University; and Glenn Price, a Kershaw band teacher. Moffly went on to be elected to the Charleston County School District Board of Trustees in November. [5]

Republican Superintendent of Education primary results [6]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Mick Zais98,55026.45
Republican Elizabeth Moffly70,39218.89
Republican Kelly Payne65,42917.56
Republican Gary Burgess63,85617.14
Republican Brent Nelsen47,28012.69
Republican Glenn Price27,0687.27
Total votes372,575 100
Republican Superintendent of Education primary run-off results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Mick Zais180,48254.20
Republican Elizabeth Moffly152,48645.80
Total votes332,968 100

Holleman defeated college administrator Tom Thompson in the Democratic primary.

Democratic Superintendent of Education primary results [6]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Frank Holleman97,62656.16
Democratic Tom Thompson76,20343.84
Total votes173,829 100
South Carolina Superintendent of Education election, 2010 [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Republican Mick Zais 680,787 51.26% +3.86%
Democratic Frank Holleman572,50843.11%-4.39%
Libertarian Tim Moultrie35,3622.66%+0.86%
Green Doretha Bull20,7871.57%+0.77%
Independence Party Tony Fayyazi18,1071.36%-0.34%
Write-ins5130.04%
Majority108,2798.15%+8.14%
Turnout 1,328,06450.31%+6.21%
Republican gain from Democratic Swing

Adjutant General

Republican Bob Livingston ran unopposed in the general election and faced no primary opposition.

South Carolina Adjutant General election, 2010 [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Republican Bob Livingston 900,620 99.25% +41.15%
Write-ins6,7860.75%+0.74%
Majority893,83498.50%+82.20%
Turnout 907,40634.37%-8.93%
Republican hold Swing

Commissioner of Agriculture

Incumbent Republican Hugh Weathers ran for re-election against Democratic challenger Tom Elliott, a former Richland County treasurer and councilman. Neither faced primary opposition. The major issue in the race was the moving of the state farmers' market, which Elliott suggested had been done improperly. [7]

South Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture election, 2010 [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Republican Hugh Weathers (incumbent) 792,260 60.11% +0.41%
Democratic Tom Elliott525,22939.85%-0.45%
Write-ins5330.04%
Majority267,03120.06%+1.20%
Turnout 1,318,02249.92%+6.52%
Republican hold Swing

State House of Representatives

All 124 seats in the South Carolina House of Representatives were up for election in 2010.

Judicial positions

Several Probate Court justices were up for election in 2010. Most other judges are elected by the South Carolina General Assembly instead of by the general population.

Ballot measures

Four measures appeared on the General Election ballot.

Amendment 1 amended Article I of the state Constitution to guarantee citizens the right to hunt, fish and trap wildlife, "subject to laws and regulations promoting sound wildlife conservation and management as prescribed by the General Assembly."

Amendment 1
ChoiceVotes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svg Yes1,126,22888.97
No139,66811.03
Total votes1,265,896100.00
Registered voters/turnout2,631,45948.11
Source: - Official Results

Amendment 2 amended Article II of the state Constitution "to provide that the fundamental right of an individual to vote by secret ballot is guaranteed for a designation, a selection, or an authorization for employee representation by a labor organization."

Amendment 2
ChoiceVotes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svg Yes1,090,10786.20
No174,47313.80
Total votes1,264,580100.00
Registered voters/turnout2,631,45948.06
Source: - Official Results

Amendment 3 amended Section 36(A) of Article III of the state Constitution "to increase from three to five percent in increments of one-half of one percent over four fiscal years the amount of state general fund revenue in the latest completed fiscal year required to be held in the General Reserve Fund."

Amendment 3
ChoiceVotes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svg Yes890,01570.91
No365,10529.09
Total votes1,255,120100.00
Registered voters/turnout2,631,45947.70
Source: - Official Results

Amendment 4 amended Section 36(A) of Article III of the state Constitution " to increase from three to five percent in increments of one-half of one percent over four fiscal years the amount of state general fund revenue in the latest completed fiscal year required to be held in the General Reserve Fund and to allow the percentage amount to be subsequently increased or decreased by separate legislative enactment passed by a two-thirds vote of the total membership of the Senate and a two-thirds vote of the total membership of the House of Representatives."

Amendment 4
ChoiceVotes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svg Yes906,32872.61
No341,89327.39
Total votes1,248,221100.00
Registered voters/turnout2,631,45947.43
Source: - Official Results

Local

Many elections for county and city offices were also held on November 2, 2010.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "South Carolina 2010 Primary Results". South Carolina Board of Elections. June 22, 2010. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "South Carolina Election Results". South Carolina Board of Elections. November 18, 2010. Retrieved December 20, 2012.
  3. ↑ "Read the Eckstrom e-mails to Payne". The Columbia State. February 18, 2010. Archived from the original on April 29, 2012. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Former Anderson School District 4 superintendent arresteds". Anderson Independent-Mail. April 3, 2009. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
  5. ↑ "CCSD Board of Trustees Members". CCSD. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
  6. 1 2 "South Carolina 2010 Primary Results". South Carolina Board of Elections. June 22, 2010. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Rivals for top South Carolina agriculture job offer ideas to promote farms". Augusta Chronicle. September 18, 2010. Retrieved December 20, 2012.
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