The first results from Tuesday’s runoff indicate that District 23 will have a new senator.
Incumbent 12-year state senator Katrina Shealy conceded to her opponent Carlisle Kennedy on Tuesday night, with a third of precincts reporting, favoring Kennedy.
“Actually, I’m better. But the people of South Carolina who really need me, the disability community, the veterans, the children… and the women,” Shealy told the crowd as one woman shouted out to the women as well. “But this isn’t the last you’ll see of me.”
Shealy said he called Kennedy and left a voicemail congratulating him.
“There’s not much I can say because he ran a nasty campaign,” Shealy said. “They lied. I didn’t say that in the voicemail. I could have done that, but I didn’t because it would have been a vindictive voicemail. But, you know, I congratulated him.”
“There is no path to victory,” she said of her decision to concede.
As of 9 p.m., Kennedy was leading with 62.29% of the vote. Shealy was at 37.71% with 31 of 36 precincts reporting.
There are no Democrats running for the seat.
As chairman of the Senate Family and Veterans Services Committee, Shealy has been widely seen as an institutional figure in S.C. politics. Her re-election put her in a precarious situation, along with two other Republican senators around an issue; abortion.
The senator sisters, a trio of Republican women who prevented the passage of a near-total abortion ban in the Senate, were threatened with being removed following their filibuster decision in 2023. Republican Senator Penry Gustafson, a first-term senator, was crushed by his opponent Allen Blackmon in the primaries who won the race with 82% of the vote. Republican Senator Sandy Senn lost by 33 votes after a recount to her opponent Matt Leber.
After the results started coming back, Shealy said the miscarriage was what brought her down.
Warren endorsed Kennedy on Facebook the day after the primary, June 12, asking her voters to “anoint Mr. Carlisle Kennedy, his precious family and all Lexington County Republicans.”
Shealy said Warren voters likely voted because he told them to.
“I was hoping that my people, you know, some of the people we went out and voted with, would have made a difference. But I do not know. I just don’t know,” Shealy said.
Before the results came in, Shealy emphasized that she and her sister senators stood up for women everywhere.
“It’s a shame what they did to the other women in the Senate. I just hate the fact that it’s gotten to this point where we won’t have as many women,” Shealy said.
Shealy said he would not run for state Senate again. But she may consider other races.
“A gubernatorial race or a congressional race, or a U.S. Senate race or something like that. But I will not run again for the South Carolina State Senate, because it takes a long time to gain seniority in the Senate.”
For now, she and her family will spend time together. Shealy said she remains committed to working to improve the community and mentioned continuing to invest in work for children, veterans and Alzheimer’s research at USC.
“It’s like my grandson said, he gets his mom back and, you know, I get my grandkids back and I get to spend time with them. And I’m going to enjoy it,” Shealy said.
In her speech to her supporters, family and friends, she said that she still believed in what she voted for and that a fire started inside her. She said there would continue to be negative and unpleasant mail, like that leading up to the election.
“This fire is strong when you make me crazy,” Shealy told the crowd. “You have that Shealy look, and it’s not a good look.”
“When you have two senators and a member of the House that you know, who have been working very hard to get rid of you, and that was their main goal: to see if they could get rid of all the Republican women in the Senate. Yes, there is something wrong with that. This is a sad state of affairs for South Carolina, so I hope they feel good about themselves,” Shealy said.
