ST. GEORGE – Dorchester County’s treasurer defeated veteran lawmaker Rep. George Bailey Tuesday night for the S.C. House District 97 seat.
Bailey, a Republican, squeaked by with fewer than 500 votes in his previous two elections to hold onto the seat. But Democrat Patsy Knight, a well-known figure in state and local government, defeated Bailey 4,843 to 4,653.
Knight said she will be “calm, cool and collected” until Friday’s election certification, even though Bailey called and conceded, congratulating her on a good race
“The contributing factor has been the trust and honesty people saw in me over the years as county treasurer,” Knight said.
She said her vision is for all levels of government to communicate more to bring more development and create more jobs.
Bailey said “She ran a good campaign and got her people out to vote. If I can do anything to help her in the transition, I will. She did a masterful job of getting out their base vote.”
Bailey said he’s not going to talk about the possibility of a rematch in 2008.
“Obviously, I think this is a Republican seat and in time it will come to show,” he said. “I’m going to spend time with my wife, take trips and see my grandchildren play ball.”
In other Dorchester County races, Democrat Willie Davis beat his Republican challenger to win a fifth four-year term on Dorchester County Council. Davis received 2,228 votes in the District 1 race to Republican J. Don Canaday’s 1,354.
Davis said he wants to see sewer come to upper Dorchester County, plus more industry and development to lower the burden for Dorchester County taxpayers.
Democrat Kenneth “Kenny” Waggoner won yet another term to represent County Council District 3 with 2,363 votes to Republican challenger Arthur Bryngelson’s 1,637.
In other races:
Governor
Mark Sanford – 18,460
Tommy Moore – 9,747
Lieutenant Governor
Andre Bauer – 14,707
Robert Barber – 13,423
Treasurer
Thomas Ravenel – 16,352
Grady Patterson – 11,854
Secretary of State
Mark Hammond – 18,069
Cheryl Footman – 9,666
Superintendent of Education
Karen Floyd – 15,546
Jim Rex – 10,708
Comptroller General
Richard Eckstrom – 16,718
Drew Theodore – 10,998
Commissioner of Agriculture
Hugh Weathers – 17,469
Emile DeFelice – 10,048
Adjutant General
Stanhope “Stan” Spears – 16,333
Glenn Lindman – 11,010
Amendment No. 1
Yes – 21,346
No – 6,412
Amendment 2a
Yes – 19,339
No – 7,203
Amendment 2b
Yes – 18,217
No – 8,058
Amendment 3a
Yes – 18,839
No – 7,934
Amendment 3b
Yes – 16,561
No – 9,598
Amendment 4
Yes – 10,964
No – 8,053
Amendment 5
Yes – 23,544
No – 3,520
T&D Government Writer Tucker Lyon contributed to this report.