South Carolina voters head to the polls on Election Day

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD)- Voters across South Carolina will head to the polls Tuesday to weigh in on the race for the White House, the U.S. House, state legislature, and a slew of local contests.

South Carolina is not a battleground state; its nine electoral votes for president are almost certain to go to former President Donald Trump. He carried the state by double-digits in the past two presidential elections and South Carolinians have backed a Republican in 13 of the last 14 elections.

Even still, South Carolina voters face choices in a host of races further down the ballot that could prove consequential.

Each of the Palmetto State’s seven seats in the U.S. House is up this year and at least one newcomer will join the congressional delegation after U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan (R) opted not to seek reelection in South Carolina’s deeply-red 3rd District.

Sheri Biggs is heavily favored to defeat Democrat Byron Best in that race, which would make her the second woman in South Carolina’s federal delegation.

Closer to home, Republican Nancy Mace faces Democrat Michael B. Moore in the Lowcountry’s 1st District. Mace cruised to victory in the GOP primary and could do so again, due in part to a federal court ruling that allowed the 2024 election to be held under a contested map that was designed to make the seat safer for Republicans.

Democrat Jim Clyburn, who has represented the 6th District since 1992, faces a familiar opponent in Republican Duke Buckner. Third-party candidates Gregg “Marcel” Dixon and Joseph Oddo are also vying for the seat.

All 170 seats in the state’s General Assembly — 124 in the House and 46 in the Senate — are also up for grabs Tuesday, but more than half are uncontested or were virtually decided in the June GOP primary.

Republicans will look to build on a dominant 2022 performance in which the party flipped eight seats to gain a two-thirds supermajority in the House. They only need to pick up one seat on Tuesday to gain the same advantage in the Senate.

Democrats, meanwhile, aim to hold onto the Senate seats they already have and gain a few in the House by capitalizing on momentum at the top of the ticket.

Among the races to watch is the state Senate race between Democrat Ed Sutton and Libertarian Kendal Ludden in the newly created District 20. The district was moved from Richland to Charleson following the 2020 census to account for faster population growth in that area and now encompasses parts of West Ashley.

House District 110 in downtown Charleston is another race to watch as first-term incumbent Tom Hartnett (R) squares off against Democrat John Moffett. The district has remained in Republican control despite some recent turnover, but it is still considered a toss-up in Democrat-leaning Charleston County.

Lowcountry voters will also make decisions further down the ballot that could shape local politics for years to come.

Charleston County Sheriff Kristin Graziano (D), the first woman and openly gay person to be sworn in as a sheriff in the state, is in a tough reelection fight with Republican Carl Ritchie, the longtime former Mount Pleasant police chief.

The race has stepped into the national spotlight in recent weeks as Graziano is locked in a bitter battle with Nancy Mace over the agency’s handling of immigration enforcement.

Voters in Dorchester County will elect a new sheriff, marking the first change in leadership at the sheriff’s office in over a decade. The race is between Democrat Charles T. Frederick III and Republican Sam Richardson, the current deputy chief.

If Richardson wins, he would be the only Black Republican sheriff in South Carolina.

Some voters will also decide who controls the solicitor’s office, the coroner’s office, and county school boards, as well as a handful of other local offices.

Polls across South Carolina are open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. on November 5. If you are in line by 7 p.m., you can remain in line until you vote.

News 2 will provide the most up-to-date election results in real-time once polls are closed. You can find them on counton2.com beginning at 7 p.m.