COLUMBIA, S.C. - While Tuesday's U.S. Senate primaries were being watched nationally, voters across the state were casting ballots for everything from congressional seats to county councils.

Two former aides to Republican Gov. Mark Sanford were running for state Senate: Chip Campsen in the Lowcountry and Ken Wingate in the Midlands.

All 170 seats in the Legislature are up for grabs this year, and many incumbents faced no opposition Tuesday, but there were some races with statewide name recognition and interesting twists.

Sanford's former adviser and longtime friend Chip Campsen, who said he can help Sanford and lawmakers work together, is looking to unseat incumbent Sen. John Kuhn, who currently represents the Charleston district where the Sanfords live permanently.

Kuhn got into a spat with first lady Jenny Sanford recently after she made a donation to Campsen's campaign. The confrontation outside the governor's office became heated with both sides blaming each other.

Kuhn said he asked her to quit helping Campsen and later said Jenny Sanford has an "unbelievable temper."

The third Republican in that primary, Henry Fishburne, said the dustup probably would hurt Kuhn's bid for re-election.

"I don't know that it helped directly either Chip or myself, but it had to hurt John," he said. "I know Jenny Sanford. She's a wonderful lady, and I can't believe John's version of that encounter was what really happened."

Campsen said he didn't harp on the incident in the final weeks of the campaign, but he did say that he wanted to change Senate rules that allow one member to halt legislation.

Kuhn, an outspoken senator who has served since 2001, took much of the blame for the death of the governor's restructuring proposal in a Senate committee. He also irked colleagues with lengthy filibusters, one of which killed an economic development bill a year ago.

That's not the only race closely tied to the governor.

Ken Wingate, who chaired Sanford's commission on state reform, was running for a Columbia-area seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Warren Giese.

Wingate, a who ran against Sanford in the GOP gubernatorial primary two years ago, faces Barney Giese, who wants to replace his father after serving nine years as solicitor for Richland and Kershaw counties.

"I think the name Giese makes a big difference in South Carolina," said Joan Revson, 46, a homemaker who voted for Barney Giese. "His dad is so well-known. He is so well-known."

Wingate tried to combat the name recognition by spending twice as much money on the campaign. He said he spent $200,000 mostly on television ads, mail-outs and signs, and that puts him on "equal footing" with Giese, who said he spent about $90,000.

Linda Wheeler, 49, said her children go to a private Christian school with Wingate's children and she likes his firm anti-abortion stance.

"I like that he's open about his faith," the antique dealer said.

In other interesting races, the late U.S. Rep. Floyd Spence's son was in a Republican primary for a state House seat against incumbent Ted Pitts, R-Lexington.

Spence said he's been around politics for most of his life and thought now was the right time to run.

Archie Maddox Jr., a 41-year-old youth commissioner for the city of Columbia, said it was a difficult decision but he voted for Spence.

"Pitts had done a good job, but I think that Spence would also do a good job," Maddox said. "I wanted to give Spence an opportunity because my mother used to work for his dad, and I know what kind of character his dad had."