Democrat Gloria Bromell Tinubu will face Republican Tom Rice in the race for South Carolina’s new 7th Congressional District.
Tinubu, a Coastal Carolina University professor, won Tuesday’s hastily arranged runoff. Bromell Tinubu thought she was the nominee the night of the June 12 primary voting. She had a majority of votes after the state Election Commission decided not to count ballots cast for a challenger who dropped out of the race in late May, although his name remained on voting machines. But a judge last Friday ruled those votes should have been counted, dropping Bromell Tinubu to 49 percent of the primary votes and putting her in a runoff with Horry County lawyer Preston Brittain. Bromell Tinubu is a surprise nominee. Brittain had the support of establishment Democrats in the state.
On the Republican side Rice, the Horry County Council Chairman, leapfrogged primary first-place finisher and former Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer in Tuesday’s runoff Rice is a retired lawyer and accountant who got into politics two years ago after his wife told him if he didn’t like what government was doing, he should run for office. Rice called Bauer a political opportunist who only moved to the district when lawmakers created it last year. Bauer called Rice a “moderate” who will raise taxes. It’s another bitter loss for Bauer, who was lieutenant governor for eight years before finishing last in the four-way Republican primary for governor in 2010.