COLUMBIA, S.C. — Former Columbia city councilmember Tameika Isaac Devine is headed to the State House after voters overwhelmingly picked her to be the new South Carolina State Senate 19 senator in a special election Tuesday.
Results from Tuesday’s election showed Devine, a Democrat, with 86 percent of the vote. Her nearest competitor, Republican Kizzie Smalls, had just 10 percent. The other two candidates had a combined 5 percent of the vote.
She is a former Columbia city councilwoman who served almost 20 years in one of the city's two at-large districts, which means it represents the entire city, rather than a portion of town. In 2021, she lost a bid to become Columbia’s mayor.
The seat became vacant after the death of 69-year-old Sen. John Scott on August 13. Scott had served the area for decades, first in the South Carolina House of Representatives, then in the State Senate beginning in 2009.
By law, a primary must be held on the eleventh Tuesday following a vacancy, with the special election taking place on the eighteenth Tuesday.
Senate District 19 is a region of Richland County that stretches from the Earlewood neighborhood in Columbia in the south to the Broad River and up to the Richland/Fairfield line in the west, and over to Blythewood on its eastern side. It has just over 70,000 registered voters.
Senate District 19 Candidates
Here are the three other candidates who were in the race:
- Dr. Michael Addison, (Independent) semi-retired physician, who says he would like to get money for businesses in the district to expand through grants and small-interest rate loans.
- Chris Nelums, (United Citizens Party) pastor, entrepreneur who says he believes real change will come from the community standing up for itself. Nelums ran for Commissioner of Agriculture in 2022.
- Kizzie Smalls, (Republican) real estate agent, who says she's pro-business and community empowerment, for school choice, enhancing public safety, and government transparency.
The winning candidate will be sworn in this month to take their seat in the state senate.