That was quite something. And, at the same time, nothing. The one conclusion that can be made coming out of the end of the primary season is that in the on-going war for control of the Republican party, there is no victor in this battle.
Perhaps the biggest representation of this meme can be seen by two Senate races – Sen. Jake Knotts beat Katrina Shealy by 14 points, and Gov. Sanford’s former chief of staff, Tom Davis, ousted Sen. Catherine Ceips.
Or, if you look at it from the S.C. Club for Growth endorsements, those candidates went 9-8. The odd number keeps it from being right at .500, but considering the win was Lee Bright and the loss was Katrina Shealy, that looks damn close to 50-50.
The consulting firms that picked up most of the work for the governor’s anointed candidates – Starboard and Sandlapper – had horrible primary records. Everybody else broke near 50 percent, except for First Tuesday, which won all its General Assembly races with the exception of Rep. Scott Talley in Senate 12. That is a big loss, however.
One of the surprises of the night had to be David Herndon laying the wood to Sheri Few in House 79. The fact that she won’t make it to the general election is undoubtedly a major blow for SCRG, since she was the most visible pro-voucher candidate in an election year when those sort of candidates weren’t playing up that issue.
In the end, though, everybody seemed to get a big win or two, a big loss or two, and now candidates, consultants and third-party groups are retreating to their respective lines to retrench and get ready for the next assault.
Knotts, Herndon score big wins [The State]
Few built a bigger war chest, but Herndon is GOP’s House nominee [The State]
Bright defeats Talley [The Herald-Journal]
Martin topples Ritchie [The Herald-Journal]
Young wins House 81 seat [Aiken Standard]
Sanford? Jake? No Republicans here [Brad Warthen's Blog]
SC Legislative Races – Consultant Roundup [The Shot]
Lexington votes [Barbecue & Politics]
2008 runoff recap [The Blogland of Earl Capps]
House leadership vacancies – the second shootout? [The Blogland of Earl Capps]
The whole stae is tired of Sanford. only two more years and hopefully the Democrats will put up someone that is able to compete. I see the Democrats gaining momentum.
The stats on the state are pathetic and the GOP has been in charge too long to make excuses. I normally lean GOP, or Yellow dog at the least, but I believe I am voting straight D for the next few elections.
The GOP used to be a great party till 84.