State Rep. Marvin Pendarvis, D-North Charleston, talks with attendees at the South Carolina Democratic Party’s “First-in-the-Nation Celebration” dinner Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024, at the State Fairgrounds in Columbia, S.C. (File/Mary Ann Chastain/Special to the SC Daily Gazette)
Voters in March will replace former House Rep. Marvin Pendarvis in a special election, after the North Charleston Democrat won re-election on Tuesday despite resigning two months earlier.
Pendarvis was the only candidate for the 113 House District and won with over 97% of the vote. (More than 260 voters wrote in someone else’s name on the ballot.)
The North Charleston Democrat said Wednesday he tried, unsuccessfully, to withdraw from the race shortly after he resigned on Sept. 16 and would not accept the seat he won by default.
The special election is set for March 25. That will leave the seat vacant for much of the 2025 legislative session, which starts Jan. 14.
“I’m sure the people will elect someone who’s very capable,” Pendarvis told the SC Daily Gazette on Wednesday morning.