COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - A South Carolina circuit judge who is married to Columbia’s mayor lost her bid to become a state appeals court judge Wednesday.
The General Assembly voted 94-63 in favor of Family Court Judge Jay Vinson over Circuit Judge DeAndrea Benjamin for the Court of Appeals seat.
In South Carolina, both House and Senate members elect judges after they are screened by a special committee.
Benjamin’s husband is Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin, a prominent Democrat who has run the state’s capital city for more than a decade.
The vote was almost entirely on party lines, with Republicans backing Vinson.
Judicial elections in the General Assembly typically aren’t partisan, but a conservative group led by 2018 Republican gubernatorial candidate John Warren led a quiet campaign targeting lawmakers to vote against DeAndrea Benjamin.
Warren has tried to stay in politics behind the scenes since losing in the 2018 Republican runoff to Gov. Henry McMaster and hasn’t said when or if he might run for office again.
Steve Benjamin also hasn’t announced his future political plans.
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