2010 South Carolina elections

← 2008 November 2, 2010 2012 →

Elections in South Carolina
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Elections were held inSouth Carolina on Tuesday, November 2, 2010.Primary elections were held on June 8, 2010, and arun-off election for certain contests was held on June 22, 2010.

Republican incumbentJim DeMint was seeking re-election to theUnited States Senate, facing Democratic contenderAlvin Greene and Green Party candidate Tom Clements.

All six of South Carolina's seats in theUnited States House of Representatives were up for election in 2010.

IncumbentRepublicanGovernorMark Sanford wasterm-limited and unable to seek re-election. RepublicanNikki Haley and DemocratVincent Sheheen, along with third-party candidate Morgan Bruce Reeves, contested the seat. The gubernatorial race was one of the closest in the state, as well as the country, despite the Republican wave on both the state and national level that year. Haley gained national attention as the first non-white and first woman Republican nominee for governor in South Carolina, and for her associations with the nationalTea Party and former Alaska GovernorSarah Palin, who endorsed her in the primary. Haley eventually won the race.

RepublicanKen Ard and Democrat Ashley Cooper were the major party nominees forlieutenant governor. Incumbent Andre Bauer decided not to run for re-election in order to run for governor. He came in fourth in the GOP primary. Ard won the general election. A little over a year after being sworn in, he resigned after being indicted for misappropriation of campaign funds for personal expenses.

Ard, a businessman andFlorence County Councilman, won a four-way primary after a run-off with Bill Connor, a veteran and attorney inOrangeburg. Other candidates were Larry Richter, a former state judge and former state Senator fromMount Pleasant, and Eleanor Kitzman, former director of the state Department of Insurance.

RepublicanMark Hammond ran for re-election asSecretary of State of South Carolina against Democrat Marjorie Johnson, a retired spokeswoman for aWashington, D.C. municipal sanitation corporation. Neither faced primary opposition.

RepublicanCurtis Loftis ran unopposed for the office of Treasurer of South Carolina. He defeated acting TreasurerConverse Chellis in the Republican primary. Chellis was appointed to the position by Governor Sanford after his predecessor,Thomas Ravenel, was convicted of possessing cocaine with intent to distribute and resigned. Loftis, the Director of Transparency at the Office of the Comptroller General, received some negative coverage when Chellis ran negative ads attacking him for having been arrested for assaulting his wife. (Loftis was later found not guilty.)

2010 South Carolina Attorney General election

← 2006 2014 →

Nominee Alan Wilson Matthew Richardson Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 716,193 589,135 Percentage 53.7% 44.2%

County results Wilson:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Richardson:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

Attorney General before election Alan Wilson Republican ElectedAttorney General Alan Wilson Republican

RepublicanAlan Wilson, Democrat Matthew Richardson, and Green Party candidate Leslie Wilson were the nominees forattorney general. Wilson is the son of controversial South Carolina CongressmanJoe Wilson. The race was marked by high fundraising totals for both Wilson and Richardson, second only to the governor's race in total money raised and spent in the general election. Wilson eventually won.

In the Republican primary, Wilson faced two other challengers:Columbia attorneys Leighton Lord and Robert Bolchoz. Wilson eventually defeated Leighton Lord in a run-off.

Incumbent RepublicanRichard Eckstrom ran for re-election against Democratic challenger Robert Barber. Although Eckstrom attracted negative attention over his affair with Kelly Payne,^[3] one of the GOP candidates for Superintendent of Education, he eventually won.

In the Republican primary, Eckstrom defeated challenger Mike Meilinger, anaccountant andconsultant fromGreenville.

Candidates for Superintendent of Education in South Carolina included RepublicanMick Zais, DemocratFrank Holleman, and third-party candidates Doretha Bull, Tony Fayyazi, and Tim Moultrie. Zais did little campaigning in the general, despite the relatively high fundraising totals posted by Holleman, a formerUnited States Deputy Secretary of Education and South Carolina State Democratic Party Chairman. The general election race became the third most expensive statewide race in South Carolina in 2010, and one of the higher profile, in part because the perception that the outcome could be as close as it had been in2006. However, Zais eventually won.

Zais, a retired brigadier general and president ofNewberry College, defeated Elizabeth Moffly in the GOP primary run-off. Moffly, a 2006 candidate for the Republican nomination, did surprisingly well considering her low fundraising and poor result in the2006 contest. Other candidates included: Kelly Payne, anIrmo teacher; Gary Burgess, a formerLaurens County school administrator who was arrested in 2009 for soliciting an immoral act;^[4] Brent Nelsen, a political science professor atFurman University; and Glenn Price, aKershaw band teacher. Moffly went on to be elected to theCharleston County School District Board of Trustees in November.^[5]

Holleman defeated college administrator Tom Thompson in the Democratic primary.

Republican Bob Livingston ran unopposed in the general election and faced no primary opposition.

Incumbent Republican Hugh Weathers ran for re-election against Democratic challenger Tom Elliott, a formerRichland County treasurer and councilman. Neither faced primary opposition. The major issue in the race was the moving of the state farmers' market, which Elliott suggested had been done improperly.^[7]

All 124 seats in theSouth Carolina House of Representatives were up for election in 2010.

Several Probate Court justices were up for election in 2010. Most other judges are elected by theSouth Carolina General Assembly instead of by the general population.

• South Carolina judicial elections, 2010 atJudgepedia

Four measures appeared on the General Election ballot.

Amendment 1 amended Article I of the state Constitution to guarantee citizens the right to hunt, fish and trap wildlife, "subject to laws and regulations promoting sound wildlife conservation and management as prescribed by the General Assembly."

Amendment 1

Choice	Votes	%
Yes	1,126,228	88.97
No	139,668	11.03
Total votes	1,265,896	100.00
Registered voters/turnout	2,631,459	48.11
Source:- Official Results

Amendment 2 amended Article II of the state Constitution "to provide that the fundamental right of an individual to vote by secret ballot is guaranteed for a designation, a selection, or an authorization for employee representation by a labor organization."

Amendment 2

Choice	Votes	%
Yes	1,090,107	86.20
No	174,473	13.80
Total votes	1,264,580	100.00
Registered voters/turnout	2,631,459	48.06
Source:- Official Results

Amendment 3 amended Section 36(A) of Article III of the state Constitution "to increase from three to five percent in increments of one-half of one percent over four fiscal years the amount of state general fund revenue in the latest completed fiscal year required to be held in the General Reserve Fund."

Amendment 3

Choice	Votes	%
Yes	890,015	70.91
No	365,105	29.09
Total votes	1,255,120	100.00
Registered voters/turnout	2,631,459	47.70
Source:- Official Results

Amendment 4 amended Section 36(A) of Article III of the state Constitution " to increase from three to five percent in increments of one-half of one percent over four fiscal years the amount of state general fund revenue in the latest completed fiscal year required to be held in the General Reserve Fund and to allow the percentage amount to be subsequently increased or decreased by separate legislative enactment passed by a two-thirds vote of the total membership of the Senate and a two-thirds vote of the total membership of the House of Representatives."

Amendment 4

Choice	Votes	%
Yes	906,328	72.61
No	341,893	27.39
Total votes	1,248,221	100.00
Registered voters/turnout	2,631,459	47.43
Source:- Official Results

Many elections for county and city offices were also held on November 2, 2010.

• South Carolina State Election Commission
• South Carolina Candidate List atImagine Election - Search for candidates by address or zip code
• South Carolina Congressional Races in 2010 for campaign finance data for federal races fromOpenSecrets
• South Carolina State Races in 2010 campaign finance data for state races fromFollow the Money

• 2010 South Carolina elections
• 2010 elections in the United States by state

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