Polls open at 7 a.m. for the South Carolina primaries

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC/AP) – Voters who did not take advantage of the state’s two-week early voting period can cast their ballots in the South Carolina primaries Tuesday.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. across the state.

Click here to find your polling location and see your sample ballot.

Some voters will select candidates for Congressional races as well as local races that include state lawmakers and sheriff’s races.

You may vote in either the Republican or Democratic primary, but not both. Whichever party’s primary you vote in on Tuesday, if there is a runoff, you can only vote in that same party’s runoff.

Click here to check out the Live 5 Lowcountry voter’s guide to the 2024 primaries.

While most people’s attention naturally goes to the presidential race in November, South Carolina’s primaries carry a lot of weight. While there are no statewide races in the Palmetto State this year, all 170 seats in the legislature will be up, along with many county and local races, for positions like sheriff and solicitor.

Just in the last few months, decisions made at the State House have affected how much South Carolinians pay in taxes, how much money goes toward fixing their roads, and whether they need any training to carry a gun.

For those who want a say in who makes the choices that impact South Carolinians’ day-to-day lives, the primary elections will very likely be their chance.

Two incumbent U.S. House members who represent portions of the Lowcountry will be watching the results of the primaries closely.

For the First Congressional District, Republican U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina is seeking a third term. This time, she has the backing of someone who tried to stop her from getting a second: former President Donald Trump.

The Trump endorsement after he called her crazy and terrible in 2022 is just one of many ways Mace has attracted a spotlight far greater than a typical second-term member of Congress.

Mace has said her positions and beliefs aren’t erratic — she is just reflecting the values of the 1st District, which stretches from the centuries-old neighborhoods of Charleston down the coast to Beaufort County’s booming freshly built neighborhoods of retirees moving to South Carolina from somewhere else.

Mace has two Republican opponents in Tuesday’s primary. Her chief rival, Catherine Templeton, ran South Carolina’s health and environmental agency to some angst a decade ago and in her only political race finished third in the 2018 GOP gubernatorial primary won by Gov. Henry McMaster.

Templeton argues that by seeming to land everywhere, Mace is nowhere. Templeton promises to be a more reliable Republican voice in the U.S. House.

There is a third Republican in the race. Marine veteran and financial planner Bill Young has been campaigning hard too and the race could easily end in a two-week runoff sprint on June 25. Candidates have to get a majority of votes to win Tuesday’s primary outright.

The Democrats have a primary in the First District, too. Businessman and former International African American Museum CEO Michael Moore faces Mac Deford, a Citadel graduate and lawyer for a couple of the larger bedroom communities in the district.

In the Sixth District Republican primary, attorney Duke Buckner is taking on welder Justin Scott. The winner faces Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, who is seeking a 17th term in the state’s majority-minority district that is bounded by areas around Charleston, Beaufort and Columbia.

In Charleston County, four GOP candidates — Rocky Burke, Rick Keys, Greg Kitchens and Carl Ritchie — are running for their party’s nomination for the sheriff’s race. The winner will face Democratic incumbent Sheriff Kristin Graziano.

Dorchester County voters will decide between a pair of sheriff’s candidates in either party. Republicans Sam Richardson and Mike Turner hope to secure the Republican nomination to take on the winner of the Democratic nomination, which is between Charles T. Frederick III and Trumaine Moorer.

And in the Orangeburg County sheriff’s race, Democratic incumbent Leroy Ravenell is hoping to defeat challenger Bubba Johnson.

Any necessary runoff elections will take place on June 25.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved.