COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina Senator Sandy Senn, who represents Charleston and Dorchester counties in District 41, has formally conceded her bid for re-election in the state Republican primary held Tuesday, June 11.
Senn -- one of three female GOP and two Democratic senators known collectively as the "Sister Senators" who took a stand against the state's near-total abortion ban -- lost her primary election by only 31 votes. Of the other two female Republicans, Sen. Penry Gustafson (Camden) lost her re-election, while Sen. Katrina Shealy (Lexington) has been forced into a runoff.
In her concession speech, Senn states:
I was unaware that I could waive the mandatory recount which was statutorily triggered by the race being separated by a small 30 + vote margin. However, I trust the computers to tabulate correctly and therefore I have just notified the SC Election Commission that they need not go through the many hours of extra work to re-run the ballots.
While losing by a small number of votes was tough, the fact is my competitor only needed to win by one vote to beat me. So, I have congratulated him, profusely thanked my supporters, and even finished cleaning up all the campaign signs already.
I stand by all my votes taken in the past eight years, regretting none. It has been a great honor to serve District 41 and I thank the citizens for giving me that opportunity.
Sincerely, Sandy Senn
During her time in office, Senn and the other female senators received the John F Kennedy Profile in Courage award for risking their careers for the greater good. The women banded together to defeat the near-total abortion ban, saying a pregnant woman should not lose control of her body as soon as an egg is fertilized.
She serves on the following Senate committees: Corrections and Penology; Judiciary; Labor, Commerce and Industry; Medical Affairs; and Transportation; and Joint committees of South Carolina Youth Smoking Prevention Advisory Commission and Palmetto Pride PRT.
District 41 was one of the Senate districts in South Carolina to have lines redrawn to include more conservative voters.
