For the first time in more than a decade, Senate District 30 will have a new representative in Columbia come January.

After months of legal battles, two primaries and a runoff, Kent Williams of Marion garnered 9,724 votes to handily defeat incumbent Maggie Glover of Florence by 2,876.

Williams swept Dillon, Marion and Marlboro counties, three of the four counties with votes at stake, while Glover easily took most of the votes in her home county.

“This is just a wonderful, wonderful experience,” Williams said amid a mob of excited supporters gathered at T-Roy’s Restaurant in Marion for a victory celebration.

“It’s just so very humbling to know that so many people supported Kent Williams and believed in his ability to lead this district,” he said. “I’m very, very honored to be their Democratic nominee, and I won’t let them down.”

Williams, who has been on leave as assistant Marion County administrator during his campaign, said he was somewhat confident going into the race but uneasy just the same.

“You know, with these things, you never know what’s going to happen,” Williams said. “I knew we had worked hard and done everything we were supposed to, and that the voters would make the right decision. We’ve just had a super organization that’s included people from all parts of the district and all walks of life.

“That’s what I’ve preached from the beginning, an all inclusive campaign, and that’s the way I’m going to continue to be: a representative for all of District 30.”

Glover did not return a message left at her campaign headquarters in Florence by press time Tuesday.

The runoff was the culmination of months of controversy in the District 30 Senate race, a controversy that began as soon as the votes were counted for the June 8 Democratic primary.

While Glover took first place in the race with 35 percent of the vote, the initial election night count showed a dead heat between Norwood and Williams, with Norwood ahead by seven votes. The June 9 certification of the election results, however, produced a different result, with six votes separating Norwood and Williams.

According to state law, a mandatory recount of the vote must be held by individual county election commissions if less than 1 percent of the total vote separates two candidates. On June 12, the election results were sent to the state Election Commission for certification, which ordered the mandatory recount.

The recount was held June 14 and again, the results differed. This time, the count showed Williams ahead of Norwood by six votes.

Meanwhile, Williams filed an election protest with the S.C. Democratic Party, alleging several instances of voter fraud and irregularities in the counting of absentee ballots. Norwood filed a protest of his own, and was heard June 16 after Williams withdrew his protest.

Based on evidence presented by Norwood, the Executive Committee of the state Democratic Party voted 18-3 to void the results of the June 8 primary, and ask Gov. Mark Sanford to order a special election. The committee voted to turn over all the evidence presented by Norwood to the State Law Enforcement Division for investigation.

After the executive committee made its decision, Williams and Glover filed petitions with the S.C. Supreme Court, asking it to throw out the party’s invalidation of the election. They asked the court to order a runoff election between them. The Supreme Court refused to hear either of the petitions.

Glover also filed suit in federal court, alleging violations of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, violations of the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution and violations of the 14th and 15th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. U.S. District Judge Terry L. Wooten granted summary judgement for the defendants in her lawsuit, the primary of which was the S.C. Democratic Party, ruling that the record failed to reflect any “denial or abridgement” of the right of any citizen’s right to vote.

A new primary was conducted Sept. 28 in which Glover collected 6,193 votes, followed by Williams with 5,993 votes. Tim Norwood finished third with 5,152 votes and was eliminated.

Though Glover finished first, she did not receive 50 percent of the vote plus one vote. As a result, she and Williams were forced to face off once again in the runoff.

Barring unforeseen problems or circumstances, the results from Tuesday’s runoff will be certified in each of the four counties Thursday morning.

Let us know what you think of this story | Send us a letter to the editor