Two white men won state Court of Appeals seats Tuesday, defeating a black man and a white woman in a closely watched judicial election in the Legislature.

Black lawmakers have decried the lack of diversity in the state’s courts. But the debate has been especially intense this year after a February election for a circuit court seat in which the only two black candidates were not nominated.

In Tuesday’s elections, Circuit Judge Paul Short of Chester beat Circuit Judge Casey Manning of Columbia by an 86-76 vote during a joint session.

In the other race, Bruce Williams, a Columbia family court judge, defeated Circuit Judge Paula Thomas of Pawleys Island, 98-68.

Short and Manning were among seven candidates for one of nine seats on the state’s second-highest court. A state judicial screening committee nominated the two and Marion Family Court Judge Mary Buchan, though Buchan, who is white, dropped out before the Legislature’s vote.

Three candidates sought the other seat. None was eliminated by the screening committee, but nominee Daniel Pieper, a white Charleston circuit court judge, withdrew from that race.

Manning’s loss angered black lawmakers.

“I’d say it’s business as usual in the South Carolina General Assembly,” said Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg. “You had some people who flat-out lied (about their support for Manning) and switched their votes.”

Rep. Greg Delleney, R-Chester, who chairs the 10-member judicial screening committee, said afterward he was not concerned that two white candidates won.

“You have turns in this life,” said Delleney, a white lawyer. “It was Judge Short’s turn and it was Judge Williams’ turn.”

Delleney pointed out that he supported Thomas in Tuesday’s election, and last year backed Donald Beatty, who is black, when he defeated Williams for an appeals court seat.

But state Rep. Leon Howard, D-Richland, who is black, said too little consideration was given to Manning and Thomas.

“We’re paving the path for a lawsuit,” he said. “We rejected a qualified African-American, and we rejected a qualified female.”

All but one of 31 voting black lawmakers supported Manning. Black legislators were more evenly split in the other race.

White lawmakers, who dominate the General Assembly, voted almost 2-to-1 for Short, a former House member.

Short has been on the bench 13 years; Manning, 10 years.

Howard said Tuesday’s election “demonstrates the need” to pass his bill, which would eliminate the three-person cap on judicial candidates. The bill has passed the House; a Senate Judiciary subcommittee is expected to take it up today.

A study published Monday by The State newspaper found the state’s judicial screening committee rejected two-thirds of black candidates in contested races with more than three candidates.

A study earlier this year by The State found South Carolina’s top courts are among the nation’s least diverse when compared to the overall black state population. Blacks fill 10 percent of the 60 appellate and circuit seats; the state’s black population is 30 percent.

There are no blacks on the S.C. Supreme Court. Beatty is the only black appeals court member.

The statewide debate over the lack of black judges intensified in February after the selection commission did not nominate either Robert Jenkins, the state’s only black family court judge, or black Greenville County assistant solicitor Jeff Weston for a circuit court seat for Greenville and Pickens counties. Three white candidates were nominated for the seat, which D. Garrison Hill won.

Manning congratulated ShortTuesday, calling him a “formidable opponent.” But he pointed out that Short’s wife, Sen. Linda Short, D-Chester, and Delleney “worked tirelessly on his behalf.”

“The problem was not that Casey Manning was running against Paul Short; he was running against Linda Short,” said I.S. Leevy Johnson of Columbia, a respected black attorney and former state lawmaker. “They didn’t vote based on qualifications; they based it on relationships.”

Manning won more House votes than Short, but was soundly defeated in the Senate. A House amendment to Howard’s bill would prevent immediate family members of lawmakers from running for judgeships while the lawmakers were in office.

Linda Short abstained from voting in her husband’s election.

Efforts Tuesday to reach the Shorts were unsuccessful.

Williams, who has been on the bench for nine years, said he plans to “work very hard on the Court of Appeals.” But he said he had “no opinion” about the diversity questions surrounding his election.

Thomas’ ties to the Legislature as a former Republican lawmaker didn’t help her; GOP members voted overwhelmingly for Williams.

Still, Thomas said she plans to seek an appellate seat again.

“I’m not deterred.”

Reach Brundrett at (803) 771-8484 or rbrundrett@thestate.com.