COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina Senator Dick Harpootlian has conceded in the Democratic Senate 26 primary in South Carolina, saying he'll now support his opponent in his general election bid in November.
Harpootlian held a news conference Wednesday morning where he announced he had called Rep. Russell Ott and told him he would not contest the results. Harpootlian said he and Ott had a "great conversation."
With all precincts reporting, Ott beat Harpootlian 51% to 49% by a difference of just 120 votes. Thought it appeared he got the necessary votes to advance, the Associated Press had not declared Ott the winner in that race even as of Wednesday morning. Results won't be certified by the state until later in the week.
District 26 includes parts of Richland, Lexington, and Calhoun Counties.
The seat was vacated after the longtime incumbent for the district, Nikki Setzler, chose not to see re-election. Meanwhile, the state legislature redrew district lines due to population changes statewide, and took away Senate District 20--the seat held by Harpootlian--and put it in Charleston. The lines for Senate 26 shifted as well, and some of the precincts that were in the former Senate District 20 went into that district.
Harpootlian is a defense lawyer who represented notorious lawyer Alex Murdaugh in his murder trial and has served in the South Carolina Senate since 2018. Ott, who's from Calhoun County, has been in the legislature since 2013.
Harpootlian said he believed high turnout in Calhoun County ultimately led to his defeat.
During the last few weeks leading to the primary both candidates ran attack ads against the other, at times accusing the other of not being enough of a Democrat.
Meanwhile, three Republicans were seeking their party's nomination for the same seat. But that contest is headed to a runoff, as the top two vote getters, Chris Smith and Jason Guerry, did not get 50 percent of the vote. Workers Party Candidate Harold Geddings will also be on the ballot in November.
In the Senate District 23 GOP contest in Lexington County, incumbent Katrina Shealy appears headed for a runoff with Carlisle Kennedy as she got 40% of the vote to Kennedy's 36%. Zoe Warren was third with 24%.
Shealy has served in the Senate since 2012. Kennedy, who's worked as a prosecutor, had run TV ads in the final days of the campaign in an attempt to gain extra traction in the race. No Democrat ran for the contest, so the winner of the runoff on June 25 will likely take the seat, barring a write-in campaign in November.
In the Democratic Senate District 22 contest, State Rep. Ivory Thigpen will take on Richland County Councilman Overture Walker in a runoff. Thigpen got 43% of the vote while Walker got 40%.
And the race to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Thomas McElveen also led to runoffs. On the Democratic side, Jeffrey Graham will meet Austin Floyd, while for the Republicans, it appears Michael Jones will face off against Lindsay Agostini after Jones just fell short of the threshold to avoid a runoff by a fraction of a percentage point.
Here's the list of results for key Senate races: