Freshman SC lawmaker won’t seek reelection after being drawn out of district
A freshman Republican lawmaker who in 2020 flipped a seat held by an up-and-coming Democrat will not seek reelection after being drawn into a district represented by one of her political mentors.
Rep. Sandy McGarry, R-Lancaster, said Wednesday she would not challenge her House colleague and close friend Rep. Richie Yow, R-Chesterfield, for the District 53 seat next year.
McGarry, who last year defeated four-term Rep. Mandy Powers Norrell, a former Democratic lieutenant governor candidate, said moving on after a single term will be difficult, but that she had no interest in campaigning against Yow.
“It’s hard going from that super win of 2020 to being thrown out of the House,” she said. “Because that’s what it feels like.”
McGarry’s 2020 win was a boon for the South Carolina Republican Party, which flipped five seats — two in the House and three in the Senate — to further expand the party’s majority.
The House redistricting proposal, which will be debated starting 10 a.m. Thursday on the House floor, pushes the portion of Lancaster County McGarry represents into Yow’s district and moves her current district into the northern tip of Lancaster County, along the North Carolina border.
McGarry said Yow and Rep. Brandon Newton, R-Lancaster, whose redrawn district encompasses much of her current territory, tried to find a way to squeeze her into the proposed District 44, which lacks an incumbent.
“They got me in it, it was a little gerrymandered, but it could be done,” she said. “But it just didn’t work. Not when the (redistricting) committee looked at it.”
McGarry said despite her disappointment at being drawn out of her district, she had no hard feelings for the committee.
“This is hard,” she said Wednesday, her eyes welling up. “I had to leave the caucus meeting today because I was pretty emotional.”
More than anything, McGarry said she’ll have a tough time leaving behind her constituents.
“That’s where my heart is,” she said. “I have a lot invested in those people and I love them. And for me to just have to walk away, it’s hard.”
Yow said McGarry would be missed in the House, but has a bright future in the state, whatever she decides to do next.
“She’s got a good head on her shoulders, she’s smart, she knows politics and she knows people,” he said.
Yow said McGarry’s legacy will be that she gave her all for her constituents, always going the extra mile to make sure their needs were met.
McGarry, who is retired and chairs the Lancaster County Republican Party, said her future plans aren’t set in stone but that after her term ends she looks forward to volunteering with the South Carolina Youth Challenge Academy, a quasi-military program that helps at-risk teenagers turn their lives around.
“It’s a fabulous program for the kids,” she said.
This story was originally published December 2, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Freshman SC lawmaker won’t seek reelection after being drawn out of district."