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by WILL FOLKS
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Former South Carolina senator Lee Bright is now future South Carolina senator Lee Bright…
The conservative firebrand completed a long-awaited political comeback by winning a hotly contested primary election for S.C. Senate District 12 (.pdf) on Tuesday evening (October 21, 2025). Bright vanquished former Spartanburg County clerk of court Hope Blackley and attorney Justin Bradley to win the GOP primary for this seat – which came open in early August following the resignation of senator Roger Nutt.
No Democrat is running in the special election, which is set for Tuesday, December 23, 2025. That means Bright is the de facto senator-elect for this district, which includes parts of Greenville and Spartanburg counties.
Sundra Proctor Smith had initially filed to campaign as a Democrat for the seat, but she withdrew her name prior to the primary election.
Bright won the GOP race with 2,549 votes – or 50.9% of all ballots cast. That was just enough to avoid a runoff election against Blackley, who finished in second place with 1,363 votes (27.22%). For those of you unfamiliar with South Carolina election law, if a candidate fails to receive a majority of votes in a partisan primary race (i.e. 50% plus one), the top two vote-getters advance to a head-to-head runoff election two weeks later.
Runoff elections have been significant impediments for Bright in recent election cycles. After winning partisan primary races, he lost runoffs in 2016 (for State Senate), 2018 (for U.S. Congress) and 2024 (also for State Senate).
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Bright’s victory was also a stunning defeat for Bradley, the hand-picked choice of the Republican establishment in Columbia, S.C. Bradley finished in third place with just 1,096 votes (21.88% of all ballots cast) – yet another electoral defeat for the ideological left flank of the GOP.
Barring any surprise developments over the next two months, this special election will result in a rightward shift in the S.C. Senate – with a seat formerly held by a status quo, go-along-to-get-along “Republican” now firmly in the hands of a hardcore conservative doctrinaire.
Another shift is underway in S.C. House District 21 (.pdf), which also held a special election on Tuesday.
For those unfamiliar with this drama, state representative Bobby Cox resigned as District 21 representative in August to seek Nutt’s Senate seat – receiving Nutt’s endorsement and emerging as the frontrunner to replace him. At 4:00 p.m. EDT on the Friday before Labor Day, however, Cox suddenly and surprisingly suspended his campaign – sparking a flood of speculation as to his reasoning.
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Three candidates filed to fill the seat Cox vacated, and two of them are still standing after the first round of voting. In Tuesday’s primary election, businessman Steve Nail finished in first place with 862 votes (38.97% of all ballots cast) while conservative activist Dianne Mitchell finished in second place with 818 votes (36.98%).
Because neither Nail nor Mitchell received a majority of votes, they will square off against each other in a GOP runoff election on Tuesday, November 4, 2025. As with the special election for S.C. Senate, the choice of the Republican establishment – Reggy Batson – finished in third place with just 453 votes (20.48% of all ballots cast).
No Democrats filed for this seat – although Democrats tried (and failed) to whip up votes for Batson.
Whether Nail or Mitchell emerges victorious in two weeks time, the citizens of S.C. House District 21 – like those in S.C. Senate District 12 – will be represented by a much more conservative lawmaker in 2026 than they were in 2025.
Any way you try to slice it, Tuesday’s special elections marked a significant victory for movement conservatives – and another humiliating defeat for the Columbia uni-party, which tried (and failed) during the last election cycle to oust nearly two dozen lawmakers affiliated with the conservative S.C. Freedom Caucus.
If this trend continues into 2026 (and there’s nothing to indicate it won’t), the conservative wing of the GOP is poised to make major gains in the S.C. House of Representatives – which would send an unambiguous message to House leaders and to members of the S.C. Senate (all of whom are up for reelection in 2028).
The message? Start voting right… or lose your right to vote.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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4 comments
Here comes the idiot who suggested South Carolina should have its own currency. The man is a complete moron.
This guy got laughed at on this very blog when he complained about big gubmint tyranny of trying to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions. You know, actual full-on pollutants that causes massive ecological damage, smog, human health problems, etc. Lee could be a Captain Planet villain.
Might as well make him governor considering how much SC loves failed businessmen driving government into the toilet.
In the Upstate, in the Greenville area, his district is next to mine by less than a mile. I am delighted.
Stupid is as stupid does.