AS I ALWAYS explain, candidate endorsements are not about who we think is going to win, but who ought to win.

Nevertheless, as I always do, I did a quick count to see how many of the 23 candidates we endorsed won, and how many lost. On Tuesday, 15 won outright, one made it into the runoff, and seven lost. That’s a very good thing, not for the sake of this editorial board but for the sake of South Carolina. After all, that’s why we endorse these people.

Digging beyond the numbers:

• The GOP U.S. Senate race turned out as well as I had dared to hope. Though David Beasley finished the first round with more votes, it was not an impressive finish for the man who had been the front-runner since he had announced. And our candidate, Jim DeMint, is in excellent shape to top him in two weeks. It’s too soon for him to celebrate, but consider these two facts: The man who almost beat him out of the runoff endorsed him almost immediately, and pretty much everybody who was likely to vote for David Beasley did so on Tuesday. For DeMint, who had reason to worry about surviving this far, this is a good place to be.

• I was equally happy for Ted Pitts. I saw his S.C. House race as a measure of whether voters were serious about the Legislature getting better. Mr. Pitts, in his one term in office, has shown he is a serious young man who is not afraid to take tough stands and really wants to make a difference. His opponent was the son of Floyd Spence, and really didn’t offer much reason to vote for him beyond the name — right down to using his dad’s old “Sold on Spence” slogan on his yard signs. David Spence is a nice guy with an honorable name, but we need more than that at the State House.

• I have never been quite so pleased to see a candidate we endorsed lose as when Nathan Ballentine beat Rick Quinn. It had been a tough call for us because we really liked Mr. Ballentine, and saw him as having the kind of fresh perspective that is needed in the House. But since Mr. Quinn was working to advance two issues that we have long begged the Legislature to address — school funding equity and comprehensive tax reform — we thought it best to give him one more term in which to try to accomplish something. But the voters were not so patient, and you know what? They’re probably right. Mr. Ballentine will be on the back bench and unable to accomplish much at first, but at least he has a strong interest in taking us in the right direction. We need more like him and Mr. Pitts.

There are several ways to see the Quinn defeat. The state Democratic Party put its own perverse spin on it (as parties are wont to do; more on that at the end of the column). “Mark Sanford’s best friend in the legislature just got beat,” the party release chortled. “Tonight’s upset shows that voters are sick of a do-nothing Republican Governor and his do-nothing legislature, and are eager for change.” They got the emphasis all wrong. Polls show it’s the do-nothing Legislature that voters are fed up with; rightly or wrongly, they support the governor. Sure, Rick broke with the leadership to vote with Mark Sanford on one or two key issues. But Speaker David Wilkins has more to worry about than the governor in the defeat of his majority leader.

There were other things at work here, of course — such as Mr. Quinn’s unwarranted and unpopular interference in the local politics of school District 5. But to the extent that there’s a statewide message, it’s that the voters are fed up with the status quo in the House, and I’m glad to see it.

• We endorsed Ken Wingate, so I’m pleased to see he beat out Barney Giese for the GOP nomination for Barney’s dad’s Senate seat. That said, I also have to say that I was highly disturbed to see Mr. Wingate win with the help of the misleadingly named All Children Matter, a group that is dedicated to advancing candidates who support school “choice.” The PAC also supported Rick Quinn, which is another reason to be glad he lost. I hope Mr. Wingate will sever his ties to this group by the fall, and renounce this very worst part of the Sanford agenda.

• It was really great to see Debbie Summers win a seat on the Lexington County Council. I say that not because she’ll be the first woman on that body in a quarter-century, but because she demonstrates the kind of vision, dedication and energy that we need more of on our local governing bodies. She has an understanding of and thoughtfulness toward the issues that is rare in a newcomer. Keep an eye on her; I think she’ll do her constituents proud.

• Like I say, I don’t make predictions as a rule. But I made one in print the day of the primary: that the next day Republicans would make a huge deal of the larger turnout in their primary, which was inevitable because of the crowded Senate race and other hot contests on their ballot. Sure enough, they couldn’t let Wednesday pass without saying, absurdly, that the “stronger than expected turnout shows the real strength of our party and illustrates how ready South Carolinians are for another Republican Senator in Washington!”

This ignores the fact that Inez Tenenbaum, in spite of having only token opposition, received more votes than any of the GOP candidates — which the Democrats were quick to point out. Of course, that ignores the fact that the GOP vote was split six ways.

All of which suggests that a wise person should ignore the parties altogether, and hope we get a choice between the two best candidates — Mrs. Tenenbaum and Mr. DeMint — in the fall.

Write to Mr. Warthen at P.O. Box 1333, Columbia, S.C. 29202, or bwarthen@thestate.com.