MARLBORO COUNTY — A historic South Carolina election season is heating up, recording some of the largest voter turnout numbers reported in recent years leading up to the the South Carolina primaries held June 9. Early voting began May 26 across the state, with voters now looking ahead to the official state elections on November 3, 2026, coinciding with nationwide mid-term elections.
Results slowly trickled in throughout the day on Wednesday, with some races spilling over into runoffs in key contested areas.
Locally, Adrian Kinney, who ran for Marlboro County Council’s District 8, won his race with 244 votes or 63.4%, while Jarvis Davis, who ran for Marlboro County Council District 7, also won with 170 votes or 55.2%.
Following the election results, Kinney released a statement on social media, saying, “Thank you so much for everything, I can’t thank you enough. Moving forward, there will be more meetings and events, more things for the community to be aware about, so be on the lookout because I need your support.”
Also locally, incumbent State Representative District 54 Jason Scott Luck, secured his victory over Marlboro County NAACP President and District 54 candidate Betty Jo Quick. Luck achieved 2,102 votes or 55.67%.
Celebrating his victory, Representative Luck said, “Thank you District 54 for awarding me the privilege of representing you two more years ‘provided I win the general election.’”
Statewide, the governor’s race is of particular interest to residents with the announced retirement of current Governor Henry McMaster earlier this year. Results showed the Democrat’s clearly favored candidate Jermaine Johnson for the leadership role, while republican candidates Lt. Governor Pamela Evette and Attorney General Alan Wilson will face a runoff scheduled for June 23.
In the Republican race, with nearly 100% of precincts reporting, Evette took the top spot with 136,150 votes, while Wilson received 123,391 votes. Despite Evette’s favor with majority voters, neither she, nor any other Republican candidate achieved more than 50% of the vote, guaranteeing the runoff election.
For the Senate, Lindsey Graham (R.) won his primary with 263,895 votes or 56.8% winning over half the majority vote for the state. He will face Dr. Annie Andrews (D.) on Nov. 3.