Republicans to keep majority in S.C. Senate

Republicans retained control of the state Senate on Tuesday, but there were several close races.

Most returning senators are familiar faces, but some new members will be coming to Columbia in January when the Senate convenes.

The results in some of the most-watched races:

• Former Democratic House member Joel Lourie defeated Republican Ken Wingate in the bid to replace retiring Republican Sen. Warren Giese, R-Richland, in District 22.

Wingate ran an aggressive ad campaign against Lourie, who won a late endorsement from Giese’s son, Richland County prosecutor Barney Giese.

• Sen. Phil Leventis, D-Sumter, won his re-election fight in District 35 against Republican lawyer Dickie Jones. Leventis, a critic of Gov. Mark Sanford, fought against an amendment to take minibottles out of the state’s constitution.

• In a rematch from four years ago, Danny Verdin, R-Laurens, fought off James Bryan in the District 9 race. Verdin, a former commander in the Sons of Confederate Veterans, won Bryan’s seat in 2000.

• In another repeat of 2000, Glenn Reese, D-Spartanburg, faced County Council member Steve Parker for the District 11 seat. Reese was leading late Tuesday with many precincts still unreported.

The Senate’s most powerful members will be returning to Columbia.

Notable Republican incumbents who won re-election are Judiciary chairman Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston; Finance chairman Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence; and soon-to-be Education chairman John Courson, R-Richland.

Prominent Democrats headed back in January include John Drummond, D-Greenwood; John Land, D-Clarendon; and Tommy Moore, D-Aiken.

Some of the new faces headed to Columbia include:

• Kent Williams, D-Orangeburg, who ran unopposed after defeating incumbent Maggie Glover in a contentious primary fight.

Williams fought off both Glover and businessman Tim Norwood after the initial primary results were thrown out by election officials because of fraud allegations.

• Chip Campsen, R-Charleston, a former aide to Sanford. He defeated Republican state Sen. John Kuhn in a runoff election earlier this year.

Campsen, along with Jones from Sumter and Richland’s Wingate, ran campaigns in which they allied themselves closely with Sanford.

This election could be a test of whether the governor’s popularity has coattails and also could determine how successful he will be in working with the Senate.

Sanford’s relationship with the Legislature has been strained, culminating with the governor bringing live pigs to the General Assembly last spring to protest what he said were pork barrel projects.

While state elections took a back seat to the U.S. Senate contest between Jim DeMint and Inez Tenenbaum, the Legislature is expected to tackle big issues in the year ahead.

One of the most important involves potential changes to Senate rules that would make filibusters less likely.

Senators grappled with numerous filibusters last session—over seat belts, minibottles and university building projects. Some were frustrated that key legislation withered on the vine as a result.

The Senate also likely will weigh in on Sanford’s proposal to restructure state government, tax relief and education funding.