Re-count confirms Sanford vs. Bostic

The state Election Commission certified the results of the Republican primary in the 1st Congressional District today with no change in the outcome.

The results mean second-place finisher Curtis Bostic will face first-place finisher Mark Sanford on April 2 for the outright GOP nomination.

Election Commission spokesman Chris Whitmire said the only change in the mandated recount results was that third-place finisher Larry Grooms picked up one vote in his home Berkeley County.

The addition came after officials discovered one ballot had been misread due to a scanning issue in which no vote was recorded.

The recount was held because the margin between Bostic and Grooms was less than one percent.

The results gave Sanford 36.9 percent of the vote to 13.3 percent for Bostic and 12.4 for Grooms.

On the Democratic side, Elizabeth Colbert Busch was certified as the outright winner of the primary, getting 96 percent of the vote to 4 percent for Ben Frasier.

Elsewhere Friday, Sanford was endorsed by former candidate Jeff King in the runoff. King is the third candidate to back Sanford since Tuesday’s first round. The others are Elizabeth Moffly and Keith Blanford.

Reach Schuyler Kropf at 937-5551.