Carl Ritchie wins Charleston County Sheriff’s race, unseats Graziano

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD)- New leadership is coming to the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office.

Republican Carl Ritchie was elected sheriff Tuesday, unseating incumbent Democrat Kristin Graziano after only one term.

With 100% of precincts reporting, Ritchie led with 51% of the vote, according to unofficial results from the South Carolina Election Commission.

The sheriff-elect told supporters Tuesday night that he was eager to get to work.

“Guys I’m excited about getting to work and I’m getting to work right away,” he said. “I’m going to meet with the folks I need in the Charleston County government to talk about how we can start righting the ship and get things in place to make a stronger sheriff’s office.”

Ritchie was the longtime chief of the Mount Pleasant Department. He retired from the department in May 2021 and was elected to Mount Pleasant Town Council later that year.

He pledged during the campaign to bring “strong leadership” to the sheriff’s office, often touting his lengthy law enforcement background in the Charleston area as what makes him best suited to lead it.

There are several new initiatives Ritchie said he would bring to the agency from a data-driven staffing approach to a greater focus on school security. He also plans to use a “proactive and community policing” approach to improve services in unincorporated areas of the county.

Graziano called Ritchie to concede Tuesday night. She said that while she was disappointed in the result, she is proud of the work she and her team did over the past four years.

“Obviously, it was the results we anticipated and hoped for,” she said. “I’m disappointed. More than that, I’m not happy that I disappointed other people that were counting on me. But, I’m a highly competitive person. I don’t like to lose.”

This story is breaking and will be updated.