ST. GEORGE, S.C. - Although she’d taken a 1,300-vote lead in her re-election bid, first-term House District 97 Rep. Patsy Knight said late Tuesday that, with four precincts still out, it was too early to declare victory.

With the South Carolina Election Commission reporting 14 of 18 precincts, Knight was leading Republican George Bailey, the former lawmaker she upset two years ago, by a vote of 5,370 to 3,985.

There are thousands of absentee ballots to be considered, the St. George Democrat said. “I’m tired and I’m going home. I’m going to bed. ... It’s way too early” to declare victory.

Also still out, Knight said, were the precincts of Knightsville and Butternut, two Bailey strongholds.

Bailey, however, said he doubted the four precincts would change the results.

“I don’t think we’ll pull this thing out,” he said. “We might narrow the margin; but, with the absentee ballots, we probably won’t do well there. We ran the best race we could. The lower end of the county turned out, but with a 35 percent African-American district and you’ve got Obama, we couldn’t overcome that. They did their job.”

Bailey had squeaked by with fewer than 500 votes in his previous two elections to hold onto the seat he’d represented for 20 years. But, Knight, the county treasurer and a well-known figure in state and local government, defeated him in 2006 by a vote of 4,843 to 4,653.

District 97 covers the western end of Dorchester County, including St. George, Harleyville and Ridgeville, and extends to the edge of Summerville.

T&D Government Writer Tucker Lyon can be reached at tlyon@timesanddemocrat.com or by calling 803-533-5545.

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