Democrat Boyd Summers engaged the complete services of CR+S when he filed to run against Republican Jim Harrison, who was first elected to the seat in 1988. Summers was also running in a district where voters were self-identified as Republicans at a clip of 52 percent. Independents and Democrats made up the other 47 percent of the district’s voters.

Summers was virtually an unknown commodity in the suburban Richland County district when he started his campaign. Building his name recognition, identity and base of support, Summers made the campaign “one to watch” across the state and, as a result, the Republican establishment was revved up to come to the aid of Harrison, who just a year before made an attempt to become Speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives.

In the end, Harrison defeated Summers by a margin just less than 1000 votes and won 55 percent of the vote. However, given the Republican self-identify numbers, the incumbent was weakened and the district will be another battleground area for future elections to come.