Hugh Leatherman

A political newcomer who owns car dealerships beat a member of the South Carolina House to win the Republican nomination for a state Senate seat left open when Sen. Hugh Leatherman died. Mike Reichenbach received 53% of the vote in Tuesday's primary, while Rep. Jay Jordan received 47%. Reichenbach will face Democrat and social worker Suzanne La Rochelle in the special election for the seat which covers much of Florence County and part of Darlington County on March 29.

Hundreds are expected to gather Friday for the funeral of state Sen. Hugh Leatherman. Long South Carolina's oldest and most powerful state lawmaker, Leatherman died earlier this month at age 90. His family will host a reception immediately after an afternoon service on the grounds of the Francis Marion Performing Arts Center in Florence. Leatherman died Nov. 12, weeks after he entered hospice care following the diagnosis of an inoperable cancer.

On this episode of the South Carolina Lede for November 13, 2021, we look back on the life of Hugh Leatherman, the powerful state senator from Florence, who passed away this week.

State Sen. Hugh Leatherman, South Carolina’s oldest and most powerful state lawmaker, has died. His office says Leatherman died Friday at his home in Florence, where he was in hospice care with inoperable cancer. Leatherman was in his 11th term, still serving at the age of 90.

South Carolina's oldest and most powerful state lawmaker is currently receiving hospice care after the discovery of what colleagues describe as an inoperable cancer. A GOP senator told The Associated Press on Thursday that Hugh Leatherman's staff notified a handful of lawmakers the 90-year-old Florence Republican was recently hospitalized after experiencing severe abdominal pain. Leatherman was first elected to the chamber in 1980 and serves as chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, which has sway over the state's budget.