2008 runoff recap
We called it right in all three of our Senate guesses – Jakie Knotts won by a bigger margin than expected, Ritchie got slaughtered, and Lee Bright pulled off a close victory, building on his strong 2004 challenge to John Hawkins. All three Senators have our congratulations for jobs well done in their candidacies.
Dee Compton, the GOP nominee for the Greenwood-area Senate seat being vacated by John Drummond, has our congratulations for his 2-to-1 runoff victory and our best wishes for what will be a tough fight this fall.
SCRG came up short in its efforts to pick up extra House seats with Tom Young winning the Aiken House seat and David Herndon in the Midlands. One has to wonder if Herndon won’t be facing a petition candidacy from the local perennial loser. We understand Rep-elect Tom Young is a friend of the folks over at Voting under the Influence.
Since many of their House candidates failed to win, one has to wonder if the SCRG’s high-dollar game plan of pouring in massive barrages of phone and mail will be reconsidered in favor of other approaches.
As further vindication of the theory that hard work and grassroots work trumps the big boys and big bucks … in the Democratic race for House Seat 111, being vacated by Floyd Breeland (a really nice guy), Wendell Gaillard, a Charleston City Council member and union leader, pulled off a win in the runoff against primary frontrunner and Clyburn staffer Clay Middleton. Wendell isn’t the most polished guy, but he’s a straight-shooter with a good heart.
Other winners on the Democratic side … Williamsburg Rep. Ken Kennedy, Rep. Creighton Coleman advances to the general election to replace retiring Senator Linda Short, and Rep. Curtis Brantley survived a primary challenge from the guy he booted from the seat two years ago … a race where the Black Caucus backed the white challenger over the black incumbent.
Dee Compton, the GOP nominee for the Greenwood-area Senate seat being vacated by John Drummond, has our congratulations for his 2-to-1 runoff victory and our best wishes for what will be a tough fight this fall.
SCRG came up short in its efforts to pick up extra House seats with Tom Young winning the Aiken House seat and David Herndon in the Midlands. One has to wonder if Herndon won’t be facing a petition candidacy from the local perennial loser. We understand Rep-elect Tom Young is a friend of the folks over at Voting under the Influence.
Since many of their House candidates failed to win, one has to wonder if the SCRG’s high-dollar game plan of pouring in massive barrages of phone and mail will be reconsidered in favor of other approaches.
As further vindication of the theory that hard work and grassroots work trumps the big boys and big bucks … in the Democratic race for House Seat 111, being vacated by Floyd Breeland (a really nice guy), Wendell Gaillard, a Charleston City Council member and union leader, pulled off a win in the runoff against primary frontrunner and Clyburn staffer Clay Middleton. Wendell isn’t the most polished guy, but he’s a straight-shooter with a good heart.
Other winners on the Democratic side … Williamsburg Rep. Ken Kennedy, Rep. Creighton Coleman advances to the general election to replace retiring Senator Linda Short, and Rep. Curtis Brantley survived a primary challenge from the guy he booted from the seat two years ago … a race where the Black Caucus backed the white challenger over the black incumbent.
Knotts owes his win to Lexington Democrats who saw no need to vote in the June 10th primary because there is no Democrat candidate for district 23. The Knotts machine made a massive push to those Democrats asking them to come out & vote for him in the June 24th runoff. Since Knotts is a despicable RINO, frequently supporting Democrats for office (would Ronald Reagan do that?), Lexington Democrats saw a way to prevent the true conservative from winning the seat. Dems turned out for Knotts yesterday in droves.
Guess who Knotts will owe his victory to when it comes time to support liberal legislation next session?
The more the Governor and his people got involved, the more it allowed Rod to shift the focus away from Knotts. It became a contest of Sanford and the SCRG vs the people of Lexington County.
Let's face it, if Knotts had to win solely on his record, he probably wouldn't win.
Maybe next time, these groups will realize their best winning move is not to play.