NEWS BRIEFS: S.C.’s new congressmen, 16 new S.C. House members; the beer wave

By Lindsay Street, Statehouse correspondent  | South Carolina will have two new congressman following this week’s elections thanks to a retirement and somewhat unexpected win in the Lowcountry.  

William Timmons.  A sitting state senator from Greenville, Timmons crushed his Democratic foe with 57 percent of the vote in the race to replace the Fourth Congressional District’s Trey Gowdy. That leaves Timmons’ unexpired term open for a special election, likely early in 2019. Timmons defeated incumbent Republican Mike Fair in 2016 for the state Senate seat.

Joe Cunningham.  The Democratic candidate from Charleston moved the First Congressional District, a nearly four-decades GOP stronghold district, by a swing of 25 points in his direction this week.

In the Charleston area, Cunningham, a political newcomer, won the First Congressional District race against favorite Republican Katie Arrington, who ousted incumbent Mark Sanford in the June GOP primary. After the election, Arrington blamed her loss on the lack of an endorsement from the man she beat in the GOP — U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford (who essentially ignored the criticism and said one endorsement doesn’t make much of a difference.)

Cunningham’s win puts two Democratic seats in Washington for South Carolina — something that hasn’t been seen since 2011 when U.S. Rep. John Spratt was still serving the Fifth Congressi

onal District (now, another reliably red district after Mick Mulvaney ousted him in the tea party frenzy of that time).

S.C. House Class of 2019 will have 16 new members

Although many of the general election races were unopposed, here a list of new House members who faced opposition in Tuesday’s general election. (Note: Some errors have been corrected):

• Republican West Cox defeated Democratic foe Lucy Hoffman to take the open seat of S.C. House District 10 in Anderson (formerly Republican Joshua Putnam’s seat);
• Democratic candidate J.A. Moore ousted Republican incumbent S.C. Rep. Samuel Rivers Jr. for S.C. District 15 of Berkeley;
• (added) Republican Randy Ligon won S.C. House District 43 of Chester, defeating Democratic candidate Tom Hawk;
• Democratic candidate Kambrell Garvin defeated Republican Libertarian Justin Bishop for the open seat of in S.C. House District 77 in Richland County;
• Republican Paula Rawl Calhoon defeated Democratic opponent Diane Summers take the open seat of S.C. House District 87 of Lexington (formerly Republican Todd Atwater’s seat);
• Republican Con Chellis bested Democratic challenger Damian Daly for the open seat of S.C. House District 94 of Dorchester (This was Arrington’s seat);
• Republican Mandy W. Kimmons beat Democratic incumbent Patsy Knight for S.C. House District 97 of Dorchester; and,
• Democratic challenger Krystle N. Simmons ousted Republican incumbent Bill Crosby for S.C. House District 117 of Berkeley.

Here are the new House members who were unopposed:

• Republican Adam Morgan won S.C. House District 20 of Greenville;
• Republican David Cox won S.C. House District 21 of Greenville;
• Republican Max Hyde won S.C. House District 32 of Spartanburg;
• Democratic candidate Annie McDaniel won S.C. House District 41 of Winnsboro;
• Republican Doug Gilliam won S.C. House District 42 of Union;
• Republican Randy Ligon won S.C. House District 43 of Chester;
• Democratic candidate Seth Rose took S.C. House District 72 (This was gubernatorial candidate Smith’s seat);
• Republican William Bailey won S.C. House District 104 of Horry; and,
• Democratic candidate Shedron Williams of Hampton won S.C. House District 122.

The S.C. House’s overall composition is unchanged from this year.  Next year, it will have 80 Republicans and 44 Democrats.

Also something you may have missed in Tuesday’s election: The beer wave.

Sunday alcohol sales were approved by voters in at least seven local governments: Florence County, McCormick County, city of McCormick, Laurens County, Darlington County, city of Abbeville, Calhoun County, Anderson County and Greenwood County.

• Read more about the beer wave here.

In non-election news, here are two updates to previous coverage by Statehouse Report:

Uranium contamination reported. Groundwater at Westinghouse’s nuclear fuel factory on Bluff Road outside Columbia has unsafe levels of radioactive material likely from two leaks. Read more here.

• Our previous coverage about what lawmakers are thinking about the leaks.

State regulators want permits for thirsty groundwater users. S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control board has voted unanimously to require big farms and other big water-users in the the Midlands to get state permission before withdrawing water from the ground. Read more here.

• Our previous coverage on water usage by farms in the state.
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