Chester County Circuit Court Judge Paul Short won a hotly contested race for one state Court of Appeals seat 86-76 over Richland County Circuit Court Judge Casey Manning, who is black.

And the other appeals court seat went to Richland County Family Court Judge Bruce Williams, who won an 98-68 vote over Georgetown County Circuit Court Judge Paula Thomas.

Fewer than 7 percent of state judges are black, though 30 percent of South Carolina's population is black. The number of female judges also lags behind.

Many lawmakers caution Tuesday's elections, especially Short's victory, shouldn't be used as a litmus test on whether state lawmakers want diversity on the bench. They stress the candidates were qualified and connections may have made the difference.

Short was once a lawmaker. He became a state judge 13 years ago, is married to a standing senator and paid his dues by running unsuccessfully before.

But Manning was no rookie either. Elected to the bench in 1994, he also has received high marks for his work. He also is a former South Carolina basketball player and an announcer for Gamecock radio basketball broadcasts.

The elections renewed calls from some lawmakers to change the way the state chooses its judges.

Currently, a screening commission made up of six lawmakers and four others send three candidate names to the General Assembly, which votes in a joint session.

The proposed changes range from allowing the screening committee to send lawmakers more candidates to scrapping the system entirely and going to popular election of judges.

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