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    • What do the South Carolina election results mean? Here’s a closer look
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    What do the South Carolina election results mean? Here’s a closer look

    Sakege Posted on

    South Carolina maintained its ruby ​​red dominance after Election Day, led by now President-elect Donald Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris by 18 percentage points.

    Governor Henry McMaster posted on X on Wednesday morningcalling it a “great day for America” and congratulating Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance.

    “I look forward to working together to build a better future for our people, help South Carolina continue to prosper, and ultimately make America great again!” said.

    While Tuesday’s election results solidify the GOP’s stronghold in the Palmetto State, the implications of the final votes will ripple through Congress, the House and county boards and create a path of little or no no resistance on Republican Party priorities, such as abortion. and school choice.

    The GOP maintained its supermajority in the House and gained a supermajority in the Senate for the first time in 150 years after gaining four seats, allowing it to easily end the filibuster.

    Drew McKissick, chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party, said No Republican incumbent lost a statewide race. The party was able to capitalize on the increased turnout of Republicans with Trump at the top of the ticket. More than 67% of the state’s registered voters cast their ballots.

    Sheri Biggs makes history, will she be a factor?

    Congressional candidates also defended their seats from their rivals. Sheri Biggs will join U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC 1street district) as the only two women in South Carolina’s congressional delegation and will be the first woman to represent the 3rd District.

    Biggs conquered several opponents and a runoff against Trump-backed Mark Burns in the June Republican primary. Biggs’ campaign focused on her experience as a certified family nurse practitioner and psychiatric mental health nurse.

    “Washington has a health problem – mental, fiscal and spiritual – and it is very close to bringing our nation to its knees. It is time to heal our nation.” his campaign website says.

    Biggs also did not campaign on her gender, as her campaign rhetoric focused primarily on border security and her experience as a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard.

    Democrat defeated, but fundraising set record

    In the next district, after a grueling primary, U.S. Rep. William Timmons (R-SC 4th district) easily won with 60% of the vote against Kathryn Harvey, the Democratic rival. Harvey sought to be the first Democrat to represent the district since the 1990s.

    In 2020, Timmons won by another wide margin against Democratic challenger Kim Nelson. He obtained 61% of the votes. He had no challenger in 2022.

    Timmons faced criticism from Harvey for campaigning in other states, such as Pennsylvania or Georgia. “At the end of the day, we were going to win this district,” Timmons said, arguing that “your time is better spent helping people in districts that are working hard and that are close by.”

    Harvey was undeterred during his campaign and raised more than $483,000, the most any Democratic candidate has raised in the district race.

    “Together, we ran an aggressive but clean campaign that prioritized the urgent needs of upstate families and held our three-term congressman accountable for his damaging, partisan-line voting record. Although this time we failed to flip the SC -04, The achievements of our campaign speak for themselves,” Harvey said.

    Further: ‘Rejoicing’: South Carolina Republicans dominate federal, state and local elections

    Reversed seats create a supermajority

    The state also saw the entire state house up for election. On Tuesday, the GOP gained four seats in the state Senate, giving it a Republican supermajority.

    “Today, residents of the Palmetto State voted to send four new Republican senators to Columbia, affirming that the values ​​of safe communities, fiscal responsibility, family integrity and educational freedom resonate with South Carolinians,” said the leader of the Senate Majority Shane Massey in a statement. “The Senate Republican Caucus strategically invested in strong candidates and managed to create competitive races, even in traditionally Democratic districts. “I look forward to working alongside these new senators to defend conservative victories that make South Carolina an even better place to live, work and raise a family.”

    ‘Only’ a citizen can vote

    Statewide, voters accepted a constitutional amendment that will change Section 4, Article II of the South Carolina Constitution, mandating that “only” a citizen may vote.

    Greenville Republican Party Chairwoman Yvonne Julian said the constitutional amendment would act as an “additional safeguard against people who vote illegally.”

    “It’s sad to say that there are people in the country who want that to happen,” Julián said.

    It is already illegal for a non-citizen to vote and there is no evidence that non-citizens vote in South Carolina.

    The amendment was approved by a large majority. With about 98% of counties reporting, more than 85% of voters approved the measure.

    South Carolina was not the only one to approve the measure. Seven states had similar measures on the ballot and all passed, including North Carolina.

    Critics say the amendment was unnecessary because it is already illegal to vote as a noncitizen in South Carolina and they worry the amendment could lead to voter suppression, such as passing laws requiring proof of citizenship through passport or birth certificate.

    Infrastructure solution will challenge new council

    At the local level, Anderson and Greenville counties rejected measures that would increase local sales taxes to pay for road improvements.

    In Greenville, the motion failed by three percentage points. The proposed increase would have increased the local sales tax in Greenville County from 6% to 7% to pay for road improvements.

    Republican Liz Seman, who soundly defeated Constitution Party rival John Langville on Tuesday, said the narrow margin further demonstrates that the “message is that infrastructure is important.”

    “We certainly hear all the time that infrastructure is a challenge, and that will be something the new council will have to deal with in January,” Seman said.

    In January, four new council members will join the Greenville County Council after defeating three incumbents in the June primary. Frank Farmer, who won the Republican nomination for Greenville County Council District 22 after Councilman Stan Tzouvelekas opted to run for the state House, defeated Democratic challenger Karine Debaty.

    Greenville County residents are also generally opposed to the new taxes, as evidenced by the removal of three incumbents, Butch Kirven, Chris Harrison and Mike Barnes, who voted to raise property taxes last August.

    Greenville County Councilmembers-elect Garey Collins, Curt McGahhey and Kelly Long were unopposed in the general election and campaigned opposing the tax increase.

    All four newly elected council members opposed the one-cent sales tax and spoke out against it. in july.

    Currently, only 28 to 32 county roads can be paved each year despite owning 1,800 miles of roads. Roads are deteriorating, county staff Tee Coker and Hesha Gamble said more than a year ago. The problem is expected to get worse as more people move to the county.

    How Greenville County will work to improve roads remains unanswered. Some councilors have suggested in the past that the solution is to increase budget funds to improve roads.

    The county spends about $78 million a year on roads. This includes various funding methods, such as the state Department of Transportation contributing $27 million and state gas taxes contributing $4 million. Greenville County commits $12 million of its annual budget.

    The South Carolina chapter of Americans for Prosperity said in a statement that it was “pleased to see that the burden of improving state infrastructure will not fall on South Carolinians, as Greenville already receives millions of dollars in revenue from transportation that could and should be used for road repairs. .”

    “We want to promote policies that ensure families keep more of their hard-earned money by flattening the tax code over time, without covering the government’s bill for highway expenses, and today’s decision was a promising step in the right direction,” Candace said. Carroll, director of public affairs for the organization.

    In Anderson County, the measure failed by seven percentage points. It would have raised $366 million for road improvements.

    Savannah Moss covers South Carolina government and politics for the Greenville News. Contact her at [email protected] or @savmoss on X.

    Sakege
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