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by WILL FOLKS
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Conservative Republicans in South Carolina stormed to a trio of decisive special election wins two weeks ago in the Midlands and the Upstate, but in the race to replace outgoing lawmaker Chris Murphy in the Palmetto Lowcountry, Democrats came within a hair’s breadth of picking up the seat.
Republican Greg Ford narrowly won election to the S.C. House District 98 (.pdf) seat vacated by Murphy – assuming the results of a looming mandatory recount hold up.
Ford is a third-generation active duty retired Air Force veteran, having served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is currently pursuing a doctorate degree in education from Charleston Southern University.
With all precincts reporting, Ford received 1,728 votes (or 50.23% of all ballots cast) in Tuesday’s special election. Democrat Sonja Ogletree Satani received 1,707 votes (or 49.62% of all ballots cast). Because Ford’s margin of victory was less than one percent, officials with the S.C. Election Commission (SCVotes) will order a mandatory recount of all ballots.
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According to state election officials, Dorchester County will certify the results of the vote this Friday (January 9, 2026) at 10:00 a.m. EST. Shortly thereafter, SCVotes would receive those results – and issue the recount order.
The recount would be conducted by the county voter registration and elections office – and subsequently be certified by the state.
The closeness of this election shocked many Palmetto political observers – and could portend problems for Republicans come November. U.S. president Donald Trump carried this historically red district in 2024 by just four percentage points, a sign of the increasing competitiveness of certain Lowcountry suburban areas.
Ford’s narrow win was also a sign of deep Republican division in Dorchester County.
Two months ago, Ford finished second in a three-way Republican primary election to Brian Hill. Because no candidate received a majority of votes, Ford and Hill advanced to a runoff election in mid-November – which Ford won convincingly.
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Still, many Republican primary voters sat on their hands in the special election, apparently hoping to deny Ford the seat – and the chance to campaign as an incumbent in the 2026 election.
“It was better for them to get a Democrat in for a few months,” one Lowcountry operative told us.
“I am absolutely disgusted by the shady behavior coming from within our own Republican ranks in this region,” Summerville GOP activist Jacklyn Talucci wrote in the aftermath of Ford’s narrow victory. “Make no mistake: this kind of behavior will be exposed. Republicans deserve transparency, integrity, and leaders who don’t sabotage elections when they don’t get their way.”
Talucci singled out Dorchester County councilman and Todd Friddle as being one of the local Republicans “willing to scheme against your own party and your own voters.”
Ford’s top strategist did his best to put the intra-party sparring in perspective.
“Winning by twenty-one votes is better than losing by twenty-one votes,” said Wesley Donehue, Ford’s strategist. “We had an army of volunteers who worked their asses off over the holidays when they could have been on the couch watching Elf. All credit goes to them.”
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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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1 comment
Is this why Mace is running for governor? No path to victory for her house seat?