Democrat Tameika Isaac Devine takes questions from reporters after winning the January 2nd, 2024 special election to be the next State Senator from South Carolina’s 19th State Senate District. Devine, who was a long-time member of the Columbia City Council, won the special election for this heavily Democratic district in a landslide.

The death of Democratic State Senator John Scott gave longtime Columbia politician Tameika Isaac Devine a chance to climb the political ladder, an opportunity that she didn’t let pass her by. Devine, a Democrat, served on the Columbia City Council representing one of the city’s two at-large city council districts for almost 20 years. However, her first camping for a promotion didn’t go quite to plan. In 2021, after Columbia Mayor Stephen K. Benjamin, a Democrat, opted not to seek re-election, Devine decided to run for mayor of South Carolina’s capital city. However, despite the city’s overwhelming Democratic majority (Biden carried Columbia 71% – 28% in the 2020 Presidential Election), Devine faced a challenging contest against a strong Republican recruit in city councilman Daniel Rickenmann. Rickenmann, buoyed by a strong red wave and rising public safety concerns, ultimately defeated Devine 52% – 48%, flipping the mayor’s office from blue to red.

This time around, however, Devine capitalized on favorable political dynamics to romp to a huge victory. Devine, who ran as a more pragmatic progressive, emphasizing the importance of public safety while also supporting several socially liberal clauses, narrowly defeated a state representative who ran to her left in the Democratic Primary. In the general election, Devine ran a forceful campaign against Republican activist and real estate agent Kizzie Smalls, and it was hardly a contest. Devine crushed Smalls by a whopping 86% – 10% margin, with an independent and a third-party candidate splitting the remaining 4% of the vote. Devine’s 76 point victory represented a 15 point improvement on Joe Biden’s margin of victory in this State Senate District: Biden had only carried the district by 61 points or an 80% – 19% margin in the 2020 Presidential Election. Although it is important to note that turnout in the district was extremely low, only 7%, casting doubt on the predictiveness of the outcome. Devine will be sworn in as the next state senator from South Carolina’s 19th State Senate District on January 8th, 2024. Democratic Hold

Democrat Tameika Isaac Devine defeated Republican Kizzie Smalls by a large 86% – 10% margin in the special election for South Carolina’s 19th State Senate District. Devine won every single precinct in the district and improved on Joe Biden’s 2020 margin.