The state election commission ruled unanimously Tuesday that Sen. Phil Leventis, D-Sumter, should keep his seat, rejecting a request from challenger Dickie Jones to order a new election.

After the ruling, Jones said he would not appeal the decision directly to the state Senate, an option his campaign had kept open before the hearing.

“Even if we could win an appeal ... you need to get on with life sometimes,” said Jones, a Sumter attorney.

After listening to nearly six hours of testimony from poll workers and Sumter County election officials, the five-member panel found that a small number of irregular votes weren’t enough to overcome Leventis’ lead.

An official recount after the Nov. 2 election put Leventis ahead by 86 votes, but his lawyers concede the actual margin of victory was likely only about 50 votes.

The case hinged on what the Jones campaign said were more than 100 ballots that were counted but lacked signatures on poll records.

An effort to reconcile the ballots with signatures found that there were only 15 more votes than signatures. Sumter County officials blamed the discrepancy on poor record keeping by poll workers.

Both campaigns admitted there were about 30 other votes out of about 31,000 cast that might have been uncounted.

“We’ve gone through and recounted the ballots over and over and over again to make sure we got things right,” said Terry Horne, an attorney for the Sumter County Election Commission.

The commission members declined to comment.

Jones’ decision not to appeal to the Senate is good news for the General Assembly.

The Senate has never heard an election appeal before, and by law, it would have to consider the case as it is preparing for the start of the legislative session in early January.

The appeal threat got a frosty reception from some Senate leaders, including judiciary chairman Sen. Glenn McConnell, R-Republican.

Jones declined to say whether he spoke with political leaders before deciding against an appeal.

“Any good lawyer would honor confidences, whether you speak with senators, or your mamma, or your wife,” he said.

Leventis said he was pleased with the ruling. “The facts were on our side.”

Many Republicans had hoped to increase their margin in the senate by defeating Leventis, a frequent target of Republican wrath.

Labeled an obstructionist by some, Leventis enjoyed a particularly rocky relationship with Gov. Mark Sanford, who campaigned for Jones.

Leventis said he considers himself a moderate who works well with Republicans on many issues.

“There will be some high profile stuff that people say divides us, but it’s just not true,” he said.

As for Jones, he said he hasn’t ruled out another run for political office. “You never say never.”

Reach Stensland at (803) 771-8358 or jstensland@thestate.com.