With the presidential primary contest over, there's another primary election right around the corner for South Carolina voters.
This year, all 170 seats in the South Carolina General Assembly — 124 in the House and 46 in the Senate — are up for grabs. So too are the seven U.S. House congressional districts, circuit solicitors and several county-level offices.
Candidate filing opens noon Saturday, March 16, and closes noon Monday, April 1. Some county voter registration and election offices might be closed Friday, March 29, for Good Friday.
Any candidate vying for their respective party's nomination for any office in this year's general election must fill out the paperwork during this filing period, said the State Election Commission.
“One of the first steps to running for office is filing to appear on the ballot,” Howie Knapp, the executive director of the State Election Commission, said in a Friday statement. “Candidate filing is crucial to the election process, and we want to make sure that all candidates have the information they need to be ready for June and November.”
In the S.C. Statehouse, at least eight House incumbents have announced that they will not seek reelection this year. Some are running for Congress, others the state Senate, while a few say they'll retire from politics entirely.
There are at least four retirements in the S.C. Senate, split by two Republicans and two Democrats.
In the U.S. House, one incumbent, 3rd Congressional District Congressman Jeff Duncan of Laurens, said in January he will not seek another term.
South Carolina's statewide primary election is June 11. The general election is Nov. 5.
To keep up with candidates who file, go to the candidate tracking system page on scvotes.gov.