A new Senate district in Charleston, crowded Republican fields and a recently completed special election for District 42 form the bones of a complex 2024 election cycle with the potential to shake up the Lowcountry’s leadership in several areas.
While local municipal elections are now wrapping up, the state and federal election seasons are just getting started. And although candidate filing has not officially opened for any S.C. Statehouse seats, plenty of folks have already begun campaigning.
Sutton bids for new seat
Air Force Reserve pilot and local real estate agent Ed Sutton announced his campaign for a new state Senate district for the Charleston area Nov. 18 at the annual Blue Jamboree, an annual local Democratic Party rally.
“I’m a persistent son of a bitch,” Sutton told the Charleston City Paper. “You have to be in this state, especially as a Democrat, to get anything done.”
Thanks to political redistricting in 2021, Charleston’s population growth prompted the move of a solidly Democratic district from Columbia to the Lowcountry. The new seat, currently held by S.C. Sen. Dick Harpootlian, D-Richland, covers a large swath of West Ashley and parts of North Charleston and the sea islands.
“It’s pretty exciting,” Sutton said. “I can’t remember the last time we gained a Senate seat. This particular one will be a blue seat, with a 19-point Democratic advantage. It’s an exciting opportunity.
“It’s also pretty compact for a Senate seat,” he added. “You look at some of them that are an hour-and-a-half to drive across the whole district. But here, the needs are very similar from one side to the other — it’s traffic, it’s flooding, it’s housing.”
Sutton, who garnered 44% of the vote in a 2020 election for S.C. House District 114, has been active in local political circles in an effort to keep his profile visible. He said his background as an Air Force Reserve pilot and more recently as a commercial real estate agent and developer gives him the tenacity and a strong position to advocate for the needs of the community. He is particularly associated with rehabilitation of North Charleston’s Reynolds Avenue area.
“What I do is bring these old buildings back online, think the old naval base in North Charleston — it’s not easy,” he said. “Trying to get folks to see the opportunities and the vision — our issues are not partisan. Flooding doesn’t care about your political affiliation. Congestion affects us all the same. We have to turn a page from this national bitterness that has our country divided.”
Sutton added that the Democratic Party has an opportunity — and a need — to better define the party’s message and goals in 2024.
“It can’t be a culture war,” he said. “It has to be about what we do, the politics we pursue — they help people.”
Sutton said he expected endorsements from several county leaders and city officials from across the Lowcountry at the rally.
“I’ve been very active in the community pushing for smart growth policy, so hopefully it will be a really strong out-the-gate launch,” he said.
Senn faces heavy competition
In District 41, S.C. Sen. Sandy Senn, R-Charleston, is facing competition in the Republican primary after she made national headlines for her role in challenging a near-total abortion ban in South Carolina.
“It’s going to be a dog-eat-dog world in pretty much all the Republican races,” she told the City Paper. “If people perceive you as being ‘not Republican enough,’ they’re going to send someone after you. … Everyone is pretty upset about my stance on abortion
— I’m not Republican enough.
“They think I’m a soft target, but they’re wrong,” she added. “There’s a lot of women, certainly, who agree with me, and Charleston in general is not as hard right-wing as some of the folks in the Upstate.”
Among those said to be running against her is freshman S.C. Rep. Matt Leber, R-Charleston.
“Sandy Senn tried to experiment with our conservative values, and it ended poorly for Republicans,” Leber told the City Paper. “She votes with Democrats on key issues many of us have spent decades trying to get done in the conservative movement. It comes down to the philosophy of governance, and she has more in common with Democrats than she does with us these days.”
Senn said she would not consider running as anything but a Republican.
“I’m not an Independent,” she said. “I do think independently, and anybody who doesn’t is not being intellectually honest. You can’t agree with everything on a party platform. But nobody can win as an Independent.”
Other seats to watch
Seven more Senate seats will be up for election next year.
S.C. Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, R-Georgetown, is up for reelection in District 34, which covers parts of Charleston, Georgetown and Horry counties.
S.C. Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Berkeley, the chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, is up for reelection in District 37, which covers parts of Berkeley and Charleston counties.
S.C. Sen. Sean Bennett, R-Dorchester, chair of the Senate Ethics Committee, is up for reelection in District 38, which covers parts of Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties.
Recently elected S.C. Sen. Deon Tedder, D-Charleston, who won a special election for District 42 in early November, will defend his seat after only a year in office. His district covers parts of Charleston and Dorchester counties.
S.C. Sen. Chip Campsen, R-Charleston, chair for the Senate Fish, Game and Forestry Committee is up for reelection in District 43, which covers parts of Beaufort, Charleston and Colleton counties.
Freshman S.C. Sen. Brian Adams, R-Berkeley, is up for reelection in District 44, which covers Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties.
S.C. Sen. Margie Bright Matthews, D-Colleton, is up for reelection in District 45, which covers parts of Allendale, Beaufort, Charleston, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper counties.
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