Dem
47
GOP
53
Those crazy kids in South Carolina actually held an election yesterday, just 2 days before Christmas. Of course, 165 years ago, the state seceded from the union just 5 days before Christmas. Must be something in the water. Which, come to think of it, might also explain Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
Actually, there were several elections in the Palmetto State, all of them to fill vacant seats in the state House. But South Carolina is very red, and most of its state House districts are very red, so most of the elections were uncontested. The exception was the one for HD-88, a seat vacated by RJ May (R), who got caught with child pornography, and so is in the process of moving from the state House to the Big House. In last night's election, John Lastinger (R) rode to an easy victory, taking 62.3% of the vote to 37.7% for J. Chuck Hightower (D).
We have to write this story up, because we are an election-focused site, and this is an election. And we always put election results at the top of the page, when they happen. That said, we recognize that an election that was never going to be competitive, was held in winter, took place right before a holiday, and therefore only attracted about 2,000 voters is not a great case study. Any conclusions that one might reach from the result should be taken with many grains of salt (which can then be used to de-ice the driveway in front of your residence).
With those caveats out of the way, Donald Trump won this district by 35 points last year. By contrast, Lastinger won last night by 25. That's a 10-point shift toward the Democrats, which is about what we've seen across all elections this year. And while this seat is not often contested (given the aforementioned redness of the state and the district), the one time it WAS contested in the last decade was 2022, when May won it by 41 points (70.1% to 29.8%).
Those kinds of shifts, in this kind of district, are not going to be powered by Democrats showing up to vote in a hopeless election. They are going to be powered by Republicans deciding it's just not worth it to get to the polls and vote. Obviously, if that feeling is widespread on November 3, 2026, it will be a bad night for the GOP. (Z)