Carl Ritchie won Charleston Republican runoff for sheriff | News

Charleston County Republicans have gone for sheriff, choosing former Mount Pleasant Police Chief Carl Ritchie to take on Democrat Kristin Graziano in the November general election.

Ritchie took an early lead in the party's June 25 runoff, defeating Greg Kitchens by a margin of 60 to 40, according to unofficial results from all precincts.

The difference was about 2,500 votes as Republicans across the county voted for the second time in two weeks.

Ritchie thanked his supporters during a victory celebration.

“We have now taken a major step forward to ensure the greatest public safety Charleston County has ever seen,” Ritchie told a crowd of about 75 people gathered at the Bodega on Coleman Boulevard to watch the results come in .

Kitchens called Richie at 9:15 p.m. to concede, saying that while he thought he ran a good race, he supported Ritchie as the party's candidate.

“We're going to work together to get the sheriff out and make sure we get the sheriff's office back on track,” Kitchen spokesman John Mace McGrath said.

Ritchie's campaign focused on his more than three decades of experience in local law enforcement. He noted that he had been Mount Pleasant's top police officer for eight years and remained current in the profession until his retirement in 2021, while Kitchens had not worked in the field of law enforcement. law enforcement for over 25 years.

He said he can start doing his job as sheriff productively from day one, whereas it would take time for an outsider to build relationships and understand how law enforcement practices have evolved.

A current member of the Mount Pleasant City Council and veteran of the Office of Special Investigations and Air Force Security Forces, Ritchie said his record speaks for itself.

One of his campaign talking points included stopping protesters and rioters from crossing into Mount Pleasant during the 2020 riots that caused significant but relatively minor damage to the Charleston peninsula.

He was also proud of later authorizing a peaceful protest on the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge that did not disrupt traffic, damage property or lead to arrests.

This successful march echoes a unity march he led with 10,000 people after the 2015 Emanuel AME mass shooting.

As chief, he guided Mount Pleasant to two national benchmark reaccreditations and had the city recognized as one of the safest cities in the United States.

“It's not, 'What would I do as sheriff?' It’s “What have I ever done?” “, he told the Post and Courier during the campaign.

David Fleming, a retired police officer who worked with Ritchie at the North Charleston Police Department in 1988, called him a natural leader. He believes Ritchie has the basic know-how and bureaucratic skills needed to run the sheriff's office.

“He’s got the experience,” Fleming said at Ritchie’s watch party. “Everything he did, he was a leader.”

Ritchie will now turn his attention to the general election where he will face Democrat Graziano who is in the fourth year of his first term.

Graziano defeated longtime Sheriff Al Cannon in 2020 to become the first openly gay woman and politician to head a sheriff's office in South Carolina.

Cannon believes there has been a shift in national attitudes since he was ousted and said Charleston was once again ready for a “red,” or Republican, sheriff in comments while attending the Ritchie's victory party.

Graziano told the Post and Courier she wanted to remind voters of her accomplishments as the November election approaches.

“Republicans have just spouted negative rhetoric,” she said. “I look forward to highlighting the incredible work my agency is doing.”

Although Graziano did not elaborate on what Republican candidates said about his tenure, Ritchie and Kitchens publicly criticized his leadership abilities and cited staffing and prison management issues as they campaigned for the GOP inauguration. The Charleston County Sheriff's Office had more than 140 vacancies as of June 20.

Graziano faced no opposition from the Democratic Party this year after a judge agreed to block a potential candidate from the ballot.

That candidate, Alan Ali, told the Post and Courier on June 24 that he intended to run as an independent write-in candidate.

Jacques-Paul contributed to this report.