COLUMBIA, S.C. — Tameika Isaac Devine has advanced to the South Carolina State Senate District 19 special election after winning the Democratic primary in the race, numbers from the state show.
Devine received 52 percent of the vote in Tuesday's contest, with State Rep. Kambrell Garvin receiving 45 percent. The other two candidates, Johnnie Cordero and Javar Juarez, got just under 3 percent of the vote combined.
The results are considered unofficial until they are certified later this week.
News19 has final results posted below. If no one candidate had gotten 50 percent of the vote, there would have been a runoff in two weeks, but that appears to not be necessary.
Devine will next be on the ballot for the special election, which is set for January 2nd. She is a former Columbia city councilwoman who served almost 20 years in one of the city's two at-large districts, which means it represents the entire city, rather than a portion of town.
The seat became vacant after the death of Sen. John Scott on August 13. The 69-year-old had served 18 years in the South Carolina House of Representatives before moving to the State Senate in 2009.
By law, a primary must be held on the eleventh Tuesday following a vacancy, with the special election taking place on the eighteenth Tuesday.
The winner of the primary goes on the special election, where they'll face off against three other candidates:
- Dr. Michael Addison, (Independent) semi-retired physician, who says he would like to get money for businesses in the district to expand through grants and small-interest rate loans.
- Chris Nelums, (United Citizens Party) pastor, entrepreneur who says he believes real change will come from the community standing up for itself. Nelums ran for Commissioner of Agriculture in 2022.
- Kizzie Smalls, (Republican) real estate agent, who says she's pro-business and community empowerment, for school choice, enhancing public safety, and government transparency.
Senate District 19 is a region of Richland County that stretches from the Earlewood neighborhood in Columbia in the south to the Broad River and up to the Richland/Fairfield line in the west, and over to Blythewood on its eastern side. It has just over 70,000 registered voters.