Runoff Winner will face Gary Votour in General Election

COLUMBIA – In a tight race to replace state Sen. Mia Mcleod in Northeast Richland County’s Dist. 22, which includes Blythewood, two of the three contenders for the seat will be in a runoff. McLeod did not seek re-election.

House Rep. for Dist. 79 Ivory Thigpen, with 42.89 percent of the vote on Tuesday, will face off with Richland County Councilman Overture Walker who received 40.34 percent of the vote. The runoff – set for June 25 – is required since neither candidate received more than 50 percent of the votes cast.

The third candidate in the primary race was Richland School District Two board member Monica Elkins who received 16.77 percent with 1,254 votes.

The winner of the runoff will face Workers party candidate Gary Votour in the November general election.

Republican candidate Lee Blatt has withdrawn from the race.

Thigpen, pastor of Rehoboth Baptist Church, was first elected to the S.C. House in 2016, where he currently serves on the House Judiciary and Rules committees, and is chairman for the Legislative Black Caucus.

Overture Walker is an attorney with a practice in Columbia. A former municipal judge, Walker was elected to Richland County Council in 2020, and has served two years as chairman.

Walker is also the Democratic nominee for County Council against Forward Party candidate Jim Andreen in the November election. But if he wins the senate primary, Walker has said he will immediately withdraw as the Democratic County Council nominee to allow time for a successor to be chosen.

Monica Elkins, a former Richland Two teacher and elementary school principal, has served on the Richland Two school board since 2012, and is serving her fourth term.