Sen. Phil Leventis, D-Sumter, a 24-year veteran of the state Legislature, is holding on to a narrow lead over Republican challenger Dickie Jones. Thirty votes separate the two. A recount is taking place, and the result may not be known until this weekend.

Leventis has been one of Sanford's loudest critics, calling the governor a weak leader who likes to blame others for his lackluster record. Leventis also has been one of the main senators blocking legislation important to Sanford.

Jones is one of three Republican candidates for the Senate whom the governor has thrown his considerable weight behind. Ken Wingate and Chip Campsen are the other two.

Campsen won his bid to the Senate. Wingate lost.

"Obviously we're hopeful that when the votes are all counted, Dickie Jones will be elected," said Sanford spokesman Will Folks.

This year the governor helped out on about 20 campaigns. He put most of his time and effort into races for the Senate, mainly because he blames that body for stopping much of his legislative agenda.

Last session, the House passed 14 of his 16 agenda items. The Senate passed three.

Campsen beat out former Sen. John Kuhn, R-Charleston, in the Republican primary, thanks in large part to the challenger's close association with the governor.

Campsen and Sanford are friends. Kuhn often found himself at odds with Sanford and his wife, who donated $1,000 to Campsen's campaign.

Wingate lost to former state Rep. Joel Lourie, D-Columbia, in a bid to replace retiring Sen. Warren Giese, R-Columbia.

Wingate chaired Sanford's commission on Management, Accountability and Performance. The governor appeared in television ads, on fliers and even made calls and went door to door to help Wingate.

Lourie won easily, surprising even himself.

"I thought it would be close, and I wasn't sure which one of us would win," he said. "If you lived in my district, you were bombarded with Wingate-Sanford stuff. The governor called you. He came to your door. I really felt like David facing Goliath."

Neal Thigpen, a Francis Marion University political scientist, said Wingate probably didn't get as much juice from Sanford's endorsement as Lourie did from Barney Giese's. Giese is the son of the retiring senator.

"When it comes to a race like that, it's very local, and even a popular governor is considered an outsider," Thigpen said.

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