Lexington County will have two new state Representatives working in Columbia next year, and a Lexington town councilwoman is headed to a runoff for statewide office.

These were among the prominent results after county residents voted in the June 14 primary election.

The two state House races that shook up the body’s membership happened in District 40 and District 85.

After redistricting pushed District 40 into part of the Chapin area, and Republican incumbent Rick Martin was suspended in December following charges of misconduct and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, Martin was defeated by two challengers.

According to reports available the morning of June 15 on the Lexington County Election Commission website (which showed 97 of 99 precincts having reported), local business owners Joe White and Tammy Johns captured 58.02% and 38.84% of the vote in Lexington County. But White couldn’t secure enough votes throughout the district to avoid a runoff, pulling down 46% to Johns’ 30.01%. The runoff will take place June 28.

It was a clean win in District 85 for Republican Jay Kilmartin, who took 52.38% of the vote in beating Christian Stegmaier (20.13%), Catherine Huddle (17.2%) and Rebecca Blackburn Hines (10.29%). Kilmartin, who operates multiple locations of the franchise restaurant The Melting Pot, replaces the retiring Chip Huggins (R) in representing the district that covers an area along Lake Murray that includes much of Chapin and Irmo.

As with all the state House districts on the ballot, no Democratic challenger awaits, so Kilmartin and the winner of the White/Johns runoff are likely to be elected in November.

Republican Micah Caskey, the three-term representative for state House District 89 (covering West Columbia, Cayce and Springdale) looks to have won a very tight race against challenger Melanie Shull, a newcomer who has questioned whether Caskey is conservative enough to represent the district. The count sits at 1,530 votes (50.43%) for Caskey and 1,504 votes (49.57%) for Shull.

The other incumbent state representatives on the ballot won comfortably, with Nathan Ballentine grabbing 75.2% of the vote in District 71 (which runs along I-26 and borders District 85) and Cal Forrest securing 83.43% of the vote in District 39 (which extends from Saluda across Batesburg-Leesville into the Gilbert area).

The state superintendent race will remain on the ballot for the June 28 runoff as Lexington Town Council Member Kathy Maness couldn’t muster a majority. After grabbing 31.19% of the statewide vote (with 98% of statewide returns in as of the morning of June 15), she will face Ellen Weaver (23.13%). Maness secured 40.01% of the vote in Lexington County.

The Democrat side of the superintendent race will also see a runoff between Lisa Ellis (who earned 49.83% of the vote) and Gary Burgess (31.24%). Jerry Govan finished with 18.93%.

Todd Cullum, who represents District 9 on Lexington County Council, easily fended off a Republican primary challenge from Bobby Porter, receiving 73.51% of the vote. Cullum faces no challenger in November, nor do the other three council members up for reelection this year.

The gubernatorial races weren’t close, as Republican Gov. Henry McMaster (81.6% statewide and 81.72% in Lexington County) easily defeated challenger Harrison Musselwhite (16.84% statewide and 18.27% in Lexington County). On the Democrat side, former Congressman Joe Cunningham (55.61% statewide and 65.04% in Lexington County) dispatched rival Mia McLeod (31.6% statewide and 28.54% in Lexington County), a sitting state senator.

There will be a June 28 runoff in the Democrat primary to determine who will challenge Sen. Tim Scott (R) for his seat in November, but it’s unclear who will be in it. The race between Catherine Fleming Bruce (34.37% of the statewide vote), Krystle Matthews (33.22%) and Angela Geter (32.42%) was too close to call as of 10:30 a.m. June 15, with the S.C. Elections Commission reporting that 98% of returns have been counted.

The Associated Press called the Senate race a little before noon June 15, reporting that Bruce and  Matthews will head to the runoff.

Mark Hammond (75.45% of the statewide vote), Alan Wilson (66.37% of the statewide vote) and Hugh Weathers (59.97% of the statewide vote compared to 28.51% for closest challenger, Bill Bledsoe) all won easily in their respective Republican primaries for secretary of state, attorney general and commissioner of agriculture.

In November, Hammond faces a Democrat challenger, Rosemounda Peggy Butler, while Wilson and Weathers have not drawn Democrat opposition.

As of the morning of June 15, the turnout in Lexington County was 25,034 for the primary election, 12.02% of the county's 208,350 registered voters, according to the county election commission. Statewide, voter turnout was 16.03%, with 531,672 out of 3,317,605 registered voters casting ballots, according to the most recent update from the S.C. Election Commission. Unlike some other counties, Lexington County did not have primaries for U.S. Congress seats on the ballot.