COLUMBIA, S.C. - Democrats have gained a seat in the state Senate, the body they lost control of four years ago.

Among the Senate's 46 seats - all up for grabs Tuesday - 21 races were unopposed and incumbents held 18 of those.

The most notable contested race in the upper chamber was the battle between Democratic Rep. Joel Lourie and Ken Wingate, a Republican ally of Gov. Mark Sanford, for an open seat in Columbia.

Through Oct. 13, the two candidates had poured a combined $683,655 into the contest, making it the Statehouse's most expensive race this year. The candidates were expected to break the million-dollar mark by Tuesday.

Unofficial vote totals showed Lourie won with 56 percent of the vote to Wingate's 44 percent.

Lourie said he felt like he had taken "on the lions. I was a little bit disappointed and surprised to see the governor take such an active role in this race."

Wingate's loss was a blow to Sanford, who appeared in ads for the candidate, said House Democratic Leader James Smith of Columbia.

Sanford "didn't have the clout to deliver in a largely conservative district," Smith said.

Democrats had promised vigorous fights to take back seats lost to party switchers in the Senate, but that did not materialize. Greer Sen. Verne Smith's switch after the 2000 elections came with a big push from President Bush, but Smith ended up with no Democratic opponent Tuesday.

Neither Sen. Luke Rankin, a Myrtle Beach lawyer who switched to the GOP this spring, nor Sen. Billy O'Dell of Ware Shoals, who switched parties a year ago, faced well-financed challengers.

Unofficial results showed Rankin with 74 percent of the vote to Democrat Jara Uzenda's 26 percent and O'Dell beat Democrat Jay West, 62 percent to 38 percent.

By early Wednesday, it appeared that the Republican control had dropped to 26-20 from 27-19.

Even if an incumbent politician switches parties, it's tough to beat them in an election, College of Charleston political scientist Bill Moore said. Those party switchers have looked at the numbers in their districts before deciding to change. "The switching, in part, was political expediency," Moore said.

In the House, 82 incumbents ran without opposition and five newcomers were unopposed. Democrats picked up a seat there, too, trimming the Republican majority to 74-50, down from 75-49 when the House adjourned last June.

Going into Tuesday's elections, Smith expected to take back two seats lost when Reps. Bubber Snow of Hemingway and George Bailey of St. George bolted to the GOP this spring. Smith said he also hoped to regain the seat of retiring Rep. Harry Stille, a Due West Republican who switched parties in 2001.

Unofficial results showed Snow losing to Democrat Carl Anderson, who won with about 60 percent of the vote, and Bailey defeating Democrat Lachlan McIntosh, 52 percent to 48 percent.

"They threw the whole kitchen sink at him, and the bottom line is we still beat" McIntosh, said House Majority Leader Jim Merrill, R-Daniel Island.

Smith said Republicans dumped more than $100,000 into the Bailey race in the last week. "They really spent a tremendous amount of money to secure that seat," Smith said.

In Stille's district, Democrat Paul Agnew got 52 percent of the vote to Republican Sammy Lewis' 46 percent, according to unofficial returns.

When it was all done, Republicans emerged with one less seat than they had at the end of the session.

But "we're up one from where we started this time two years ago," Merrill said. "It was a fantastic night."

"It sounds like he's trying to wear those rose-colored glasses," Smith said. "We'll start out with one more Democrat than where we were before."