The special election is on in Charleston to fill the vacancy left by the exit of Representative Seth Whipper. Whipper, who has represented District 113 for more than two decades, retired from the House in order to serve as a magistrate judge in Charleston County. As expected, several candidates are eager to take his place in the General Assembly.
With the July 15th filing deadline now passed, the candidates in the race are now set including: 3 vying for the democratic nomination and 2 for the GOP nomination.
We thought now would be a good time to take a look at the candidates aiming to replace Whipper.
Angela Hanyak
Angela Hanyak (D), received her B.A. in Political Science from College of Charleston and M.B.A from USC’s Darla Moore School of Business. She has never run for political office, but has been active politically and in her community. Hanyak recently partnered with the Center for Women to create a campaign training event called SC Women Run and serves on the board for the Wil Lou Grey Opportunity School. According to her website (seen here), Hanyak is most concerned with issues regarding technical education and workforce readiness, early childhood education, corrections reform, and student debt and is running “because she believes that the citizens of this district need a representative who will take their issues to Columbia and fight tirelessly to improve their everyday lives.”
Chris Collins
Chris Collins (D) is a local pastor and businessman in Charleston. He studied Political Science Pre-law & Criminal Justice at University of South Carolina and is the longest serving trustee of the county school board. Collins also ran for mayor in 2011 and 2015. He considers the District 113 seat as a means of expanding his ability serve the children, and residents of Charleston County and the state.
Marvin Pendarvis
Marvin Pendarvis (D) is a local attorney and native of North Charleston. He prides himself on being a product of Charleston County public schools. Pendarvis received both his bachelors in Political Science and J.D. from the University of South Carolina. He currently practices at the Curry Law Firm in North Charleston. This isn’t Pendarvis’ first run for public office either. He ran for North Charleston City Council in 2015. His website (seen here) list his primary platform focuses as improving education, economic equality, and affordable housing. Pendarvis says he’s running for office because he believes in “…education and opportunity and the difference they make” and wants to help expand opportunities for those in his district and across the state.
Rouzy Vafaie
Rouzy Vafaie (R) owns an insurance company in Charleston, but is not a South Carolina native. Vafaie received a Bachelor’s in Political Science from the University of California Los Angeles and Masters’ from the London School of Economics and University of Helsinki. He considers himself to be a “socially compassionate and fiscally responsible” Republican [whatever that means]. According to his campaign facebook (seen here), he is running “to pursue an image of a locally produced skilled labor force filling jobs not only in manufacturing, but in hi-tech and computer sciences” and reduce crime.
Theron Sandy
Theron Sandy (R) is a practicing attorney at the Theron Law Firm in Charleston. He holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the University of Miami School of Law and a J.D. from Charleston School of Law. Sandy has never filed for office and (to the best of our knowledge) does not have any established campaign website or social media… But, If we find out something we’ll let you know.
District 113 has been a democrat stronghold, and a GOP win is severely unlikely, but special elections often come with their own surprises. Remember this?
The primary for S.C. House District 113 is set for September 5th, with a runoff (if needed) September 19th. The general election day takes place November 7th . We’ll keep you updated until then!
Header Photo: Monica Kreber/Journal Scene
All others: Facebook