A 24-year-old Bishopville City Council member will be the newest legislator at the Statehouse.
Democrat Keishan Scott cruised to victory Tuesday over former Sumter County GOP chair Bill Oden.
Scott received almost 71% of less than 3,700 votes cast in a special election for a state House seat representing all of Lee County and parts of Kershaw and Sumter counties, according to unofficial results from the state Election Commission.
“This victory is not mine alone, but it belongs to all of the people … that got out and exercised their right to vote,” Scott said to cheers at a victory speech broadcast on his Facebook speech.
Scott is the youngest person to be elected to the Statehouse since Rep. Brandon Newton, a Lancaster Republican, won as a 22-year-old in 2016.
But the youngest person in at least modern times to be elected to the Legislature is former Sen. Sherry Shealy Martschink. The Mount Pleasant Republican was elected to the House in 1970 during her junior year at the University of South Carolina, only 14 days after her 21st birthday.
Others who were younger than Scott when first elected to the House include former Gov. David Beasley, who was also a 21-year-old college student from Society Hill when elected in 1978. Former Rep. Bakari Sellers was a 22-year-old in law school at USC when first elected in 2006. At the time, the Bamberg Democrat was the youngest Black legislator in the nation.
Scott, who won his first election to city council in 2023, will take over the seat vacated by Rep. Will Wheeler, a Bishopville Democrat who announced his resignation in January, just three days into this year’s legislative session.
His surprising resignation left the rural district without a representative for the entirety of this year’s session.
“I can promise you that every day I go into the Statehouse, I will carry the people with me,” Scott, a preacher, said to the crowd moments before leading a prayer. “Because certainly, it’s about people more than politics.”
The election means nothing changes with the Republicans’ supermajority advantage in the House.
But it does restore the number of Democrats in the 124-member chamber to 36.
Wheeler ran unopposed in four of his five elections. The only time he faced GOP opposition was in 2022, when Republicans gained supermajority status in the chamber. The 2024 elections gave Republicans a supermajority in the Senate too.
Oden, who recently concluded four years as head of the Sumter County Republican Party, said in a text to the Daily Gazette he “lost tonight” but “had a ball running.”
“God has something better in store for me,” he added.
Scott’s victory ensured the Democratic Party didn’t lose another seat in the Statehouse.
In an endorsement video posted on Scott’s Facebook, U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn emphasized Tuesday’s election was a must win for Democrats.
Electing Scott “will be the beginning of a Democratic comeback here in South Carolina.” Clyburn said. “Irrespective of where you live, how old you may be, whatever gender you may be, this is about the future of Democrats in South Carolina.”
Lee County had issues with counting votes in November’s election and recount for a state Senate race that ousted Hartsville Democrat Gerald Malloy, who ultimately conceded ahead of his scheduled challenge.
The state Election Commission sent staff to Lee County to help during the primary, as well as Tuesday’s special election, commission spokesperson John Catalano told the SC Daily Gazette.
In April’s primary, Scott defeated Carl Whetsel, a retired chiropractor and Bishopville City Council member, by 11 votes after a recount.
In the unofficial count done days before, Scott only won by 10 votes. An automatic recount was required under state law since the winning margin was less than 1%.
With Tuesday’s landslide victory, he can officially focus on making a difference in Columbia next year.
“Your vote of confidence,” he said to the crowd, “it means the world to me.”
