Get ready to party, because it's an election year!
You might have heard that South Carolina will be electing a new senator in November to replace Lindsey Graham, who represented the state starting in 2003 until his death in July 2026. Our other senator, Tim Scott, has held his seat since 2013. That means that after this year's election, we’ll have a new senator representing us for the first time in thirteen years. Our choices are Democratic candidate Dr. Annie Andrews or Republican candidate Darline Graham.
Lindsey Graham was such a well-known figure in national politics that the race to replace him is sort of sucking all the air out of the room when it comes to South Carolina politics, but there are a lot of other races to pay attention to this year!
Did you know?
Lindsey Graham’s political career started when he was elected to the SC State House of Representatives, and Tim Scott started out on Charleston County Council. My district’s representative in the US House of Representatives, William Timmons, used to be my senator in the statehouse back in 2016.
The lesson: our local politicians often become our national politicians. If we want to see change at the national level, we need to think local first.
If you haven’t paid much attention to South Carolina politics until recently, that’s okay! Neither did I, except for the national races. And that’s why I’m here now - to help others learn how to get informed and get involved.
Step 1: Find out what districts and precinct you live in
I know I’m just a random lady on the internet blogging about politics for the first time in her life, so I don’t have any right to assign you homework. But if you’re reading this, you have homework to do!
That link will help you find out your voting districts and precinct. This determines which elections you get to vote in. If you live in Greenville County, but not inside Greenville city limits, you don’t get to vote on who the mayor of Greenville is. But you may have County Councillors to vote for.
Extra Credit: If you live in South Carolina, take a few minutes to explore the resources on the South Carolina Election Commission.
This is just the first post in what I’m hoping will be a short series of guides to help you navigate the upcoming election on a local level. Everyone in Greenville County has a couple of “local questions” to vote on, and now is the time to do your research and figure out which way you want to vote.
Not sure where to start? Stick with me. I’ve got you.
