Luke Rankin defeats Scott Pyle for state senate District 33

According to preliminary unofficial results, Luke Rankin defeated Scott Pyle for state senate District 33 by a margin of 10 percent with almost 9,000 votes counted Tuesday night.

Rankin arrived at a gathering at Second Avenue Pier restaurant to celebrate, high-fiving friends and family in attendance.

Myrtle Beach Mayor John Rhodes and Horry County Council chair Mark Lazarus also were at the party to support Rankin.

“This is just an unprecedented race, to have the governor of the state of South Carolina to come in an insert themselves in a local race, I’ve never seen it before,” said Lazarus. “The governor and I have worked on a lot of projects over the years, and we’ve done some great things together. But to come in and challenge a race in our local jurisdiction is not the right thing to do.”

Lazarus said Rankin was a good friend and that he appreciated his seniority in the state senate. Lazuras said Rankin’s seniority makes it easier for the county to have a say in state politics in Columbia.

Rankin lives in Myrtle Beach with his wife, Lindsey, his son, Luke Jr., and his daughter, Hollings. He’s a partner at Rankin and Rankin Law Firm, which specializes in personal injury, workers compensation, wrongful death claims and social security disability appeal issues.

Mayor Rhodes said that Rankin does a good job representing the area, and appreciated his stance on the Myrtle Beach sales tax for tourism.

“He’s done a great job for us, and we want to keep him in office,” Rhodes said. “In the political field today, seniority is how you get things done. He’s been there for six terms, but now he’s in a position to really help us and get more support from his colleagues.”

Rankin was first elected to the state senate as a Democrat, and he’s served there since 1993. In 2004, he changed his party affiliation and won as a Republican.

He currently serves on the transportation, judiciary, education as well as the banking and insurance committees. He’s also the chairman of the ethics committee.

Governor Nikki Haley, who endorsed Pyle on June 3, had been critical of Rankin, accusing him of blocking her ethics reform bill.

Rankin has said that although he supports Haley on many issues, he’s stood up to Haley by over-riding her veto of the Myrtle Beach sales tax, also called the tourism development fee, which is used to promote tourism to the Grand Strand.

He also helped over-ride her veto of a farm-aid bill designed to provide relief to South Carolina farmers affected by the 2015 flooding.

Rankin said the governor’s supporters threatened to back another candidate if he didn’t behave the way they wanted, and called the tactic “unusual.”

Pyle, who has never held political office, is the CEO of Pyle Financial Services. He lives in Myrtle Beach with his wife, Pamela, and they have five children and five grandchildren.

Pyle could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.

According to the South Carolina Election Commission, no Democrat has filed to run for the District 33 senate seat.

The general election is Nov. 8.

This story was originally published June 14, 2016 at 10:00 PM with the headline "Luke Rankin defeats Scott Pyle for state senate District 33."