Matthews, Hodges set for runoff in District 45 primary

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — State Rep. Kenneth Hodges and Walterboro attorney Margie Bright Matthews are headed for a runoff in the Democratic contest to replace the late state Sen. Clementa Pinckney. The winner of the Sept. 15 runoff faces Republican Alberto Fernandez of Garnett in the special election set for Oct. 20. The South Carolina State Election Commission reported in unofficial results Tuesday night that Mathews got 37 percent of the vote, while Hodges had 35 percent. Eleven candidates sought their party’s nomination in Tuesday’s balloting. Pinckney was one of nine killed in the shooting at a historic black church in Charleston on June 17. The district includes parts of Allendale, Beaufort, Charleston, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper counties. A white man, Dylann Roof, is facing state and federal charges in the shootings.