Democrat wins special South Carolina Senate election and will be youngest senator

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — A 33-year-old Democrat will soon be the youngest senator in the South Carolina Senate.

State Rep. Deon Tedder won a special election for the open Senate seat on Tuesday, picking up more than 81% of the votes to defeat Republican Rosa Kay, according to results compiled by the South Carolina Election Commission.

Tedder will be sworn in when the Senate’s regular session begins in January and at 33, he will be the youngest senator by nearly five years. Only seven of the state’s 46 senators are younger than 50.

The seat came open when Marlon Kimpson resigned after 10 years in office to take a job developing trade policy in President Joe Biden’s administration.

Senate District 42 is heavily Democratic, running from the Charleston peninsula into North Charleston.

Kimpson endorsed Tedder. The attorney and two-term state House member won the Democratic nomination by 11 votes in a runoff, beating longtime state Rep. Wendell Gillard.

Gillard had received 47% of the vote in the primary, but South Carolina requires a majority to win the nomination. Tedder won 39%.