ELECTION 2018: Coroner Bucky Mock loses, council incumbents win; other Clarendon County primary results
Voters in Clarendon County turned out to the polls for primaries on Tuesday to decide who will be their party’s representatives on the ballot in November.
Primary ballots in Clarendon featured nine races and four questions. All of the local and legislative delegation races were on the Democratic ticket (Governor, State District 64 Representative, State District 101 Representative, Coroner, County Council District 1 and County Council District 3), while the three Republican races were at the state level (Governor, Secretary of State and Attorney General).
The ballot also asked two questions from each party.
There are 22,229 registered voters in Clarendon County, according to the South Carolina Election Commission. Of the 1,112 absentee ballots that were requested, 1,051 were issued.
Candidates must receive 50 percent of the vote plus one vote to win the nomination out right tonight. Races where no candidate does will go to a runoff between the top two vote-getters on June 26.
Following are the current results for races that affect Clarendon County. Races that stretch into more than one county reflect the total vote.
DEMOCRATIC RACES
Governor
Phil Noble – 10.66% / 23,447 votes
WINNER: James Smith – 62.27% / 137,003 votes
Marguerite Willis – 27.08% / 59,578 votes
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State House of Representatives, District 64
Mitch Ellerby – 38.42% / 1,472 votes
WINNER: Robert L. Ridgeway III (incumbent) – 61.58% / 2,359 votes
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State House of Representatives, District 101
Alfred Darby – 30.25% / 1,816 votes
WINNER: Cezar McKnight (incumbent) – 69.75% / 4,188 votes
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Coroner
Bucky Mock (incumbent) – 42.93% / 1,597 votes
WINNER: LaNette Samuels-Cooper – 57.07% / 2,123 votes
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County Council District 1
Robert A. McFadden Sr. – 34.17% / 326 votes
WINNER: Billy Richardson (incumbent) – 65.83% / 628 votes
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County Council District 3
WINNER: Benton Blakely (incumbent) – 54.86% / 497 votes
Charlton Watts – 45.14% / 409 votes
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Question 1
Do you support passing a state law allowing doctors to prescribe medical marijuana to patients?
YES – 81.41% / 182,755 votes
NO – 18.59% / 41,736 votes
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Question 2
Do you support passing a state law requiring the governor of South Carolina to accept all federal revenues offered to support Medicaid and Medicaid expansion efforts in the state?
YES – 92.53% / 206,473 votes
NO – 7.47% / 16,680 votes
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REPUBLICAN RACES
Governor
Kevin Bryant – 6.06% / 19,245 votes
John Yancey McGill – 1.84% / 5,827 votes
RUNOFF: Henry McMaster (incumbent) – 44.80% / 142,185 votes
Catherine Templeton – 22.31% / 70,811 votes
RUNOFF: John Warren – 25.0% / 79,340 votes
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Secretary of State
Nelson Faerber – 11.82% / 33,984 votes
WINNER: Mark Hammond (incumbent) – 67.49% / 194,121 votes
Joshua Putnam – 12.00% / 34,529 votes
Kerry Wood – 8.69% / 24,999 votes
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Attorney General
RUNOFF: Todd Atwater – 30.35% / 89,872 votes
William D. Herlong – 20.66% / 61,183 votes
RUNOFF: Alan Wilson (incumbent) – 49.0% / 145,109 votes
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Question 1
Do you believe that voters should have the option to choose to affiliate with a political party when they register to vote or change their voter registration in South Carolina?
YES – 82.34% / 254,856 votes
NO – 17.66% / 54,667 votes
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Question 2
Do you believe that South Carolina’s tax code should be brought into conformity with the new Trump tax cuts in the federal tax code for maximum simplification and to lower the overall tax burden on South Carolina taxpayers and businesses?
YES – 92.30% / 265,722 votes
NO – 7.70% / 22,180 votes
*25/25 precincts are completely reported.
(Results are from the SC Election Commission. All results are uncertified.)