Williams claims victory, Hyman yet to concede in District 7 primary

Following a close race, Robert Williams claimed victory in the 2018 Democrat primary for United States House of Representatives District 7.

"It was a long night, but one that gave us a victory," Williams said in a Wednesday afternoon press release.

Challenger Mal Hyman has yet to concede, claiming that his campaign has serious concerns about "various irregularities" including issues with voting machines.

Williams currently serves as the District 62 representative to the South Carolina House of Representatives, covering Darlington and Florence counties area. His campaign also wants to wait for the votes to be certified on Thursday.

District 7 is comprised of the north-eastern region of South Carolina, representing Georgetown, Horry, Marion, Dillon, Florence, Darlington, Marlboro and Chesterfield counties.

Barring any change in results, Williams will go on to face incumbent Tom Rice in the November general election.

"We have just begun our fight for the citizens of our district and we look forward to a vigorous campaign against our opponent Tom Rice this summer and fall," Williams said.

Looking forward to the general election, the Horry County Democrat party hopes to make Horry County a part of a Democrat movement to get more political power in the state and nation.

“We intend to make Horry County part of the Big Blue Wave that is sweeping our nation and restore an effective and thriving two-party system to our state,” chair Don Kohn said in an email.

Williams defeated his challenger Mal Hyman, a professor at Coker College, by just a few hundred votes, according to unofficial results. The close vote led to a long night of watching the polls come in.

The results will be made official on Thursday.

This story was originally published June 27, 2018 at 5:03 PM.