Early Voting for Tuesday’s Primaries Could Signal Big Turnout
Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer
If early voting is any indication, Anderson County can expect a better-than-average turnout Tuesday for the statewide primaries. Nearly six percent of the county’s registered voters, 9,521, cast early ballots this year. Polls are open tomorrow 7 a.m.-7 p.m. See your sample ballot here.
County Council seats 1, 5 and 7, now have primary opposition. Dist. 4 features a pair of candidates seeking the seat that will be open in January after the decision by current Dist. 4 Councilman Brett Sanders, who also serves as council vice chairman. In Dist. 1, Councilman Chris Sullivan, elected in 2024, will face challenger Kelly Koonce. In Dist. 5, the County Council Chairman Tommy Dunn, first elected in 2008, will face Josh MannIn Dist. 7, long represented by Cindy Wilson, first elected in 2000, will share the ballot with Collin Alexander. Voters will choose between Dave Shalaby and Samuel Whatley for the Dist. 4 slot.
In the South Carolina General Assembly Republican races, S.C. Rep. April Cromer, Dist. 6, will seek a third term and is being challenged by Anderson attorney Kyle White.
In Dist. 8, S.C. Rep. Don Chapman, elected in 2024, is being challenged not by one opponent but by two: Sherry Hodges and Patrick Orr, who will first have to sort out the matter of which of them gets to be the alternative. Dist. 10 Rep. Thomas Beach will face challenger Stwart Watson. In Dist. 11, Rep. Craig Gagnon, who has held the seat since 2012, faces Jesse Turner, a reminder that even a dozen years in Columbia does not guarantee a thirteenth.
In the Democratic primary races, two candidates, Craig Holcombe and Thomas Steward are vying for a chance to face the winner of the S.C. Dist. 11 GOP primary in the November general elections.
Statewide races are headlined by choosing candidates to replace S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster. The GOP slate features a crowded Republican primary with candidates Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, and state Attorney General Alan Wilson.
On the Democratic ticket, the gubernatorial primary includes Jermaine Johnson, Mullins McLeod, and Billy Webster.
In the U.S. Senate race, Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham faces primary challengers Paul Dans, Thomas Keith Dismukes, Pat Herrmann, Mark Lynch, and Darius L. Mitchell, while the Democratic U.S. Senate primary features candidates Annie Andrews and Kyle Freeman.
The ballot also includes primaries for South Carolina's other statewide constitutional offices. For Secretary of State, Republican incumbent Mark Hammond is running, while the Democratic primary features Jason Belton and Edwina Winter. The Attorney General race includes a Republican primary with Stephen Goldfinch Jr., David Pascoe, and David Stumbo, alongside Richard Hricik on the Democratic side.
The State Treasurer Democratic primary features Vincent Coe and Trav Robertson Jr., and the Comptroller General Democratic primary includes Tiffany Boozer and Bruce Cole. For State Superintendent of Education, the Democratic primary consists of Lisa Ellis and Sylvia Wright. Finally, the Commissioner of Agriculture race will see a Republican primary featuring Jeremy Cannon, Danny Ford, Cody Simpson, and Fred West, with DeShawn Blanding running as a Democrat.
South Carolina requires a majority to win a primary, so any race where no single candidate secures more than 50 percent of the vote will advance to a runoff election between the top two finishers on June 23, 2026.
