Matthews sworn in to fill seat of slain SC state senator

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — A successor is being sworn in to fill the state Senate seat of Clementa Pinckney, who was slain in the Charleston church shootings earlier this year.

Walterboro attorney Margie Bright Matthews takes the oath of office on Tuesday at South Carolina’s Senate chambers in Columbia.

Election results show that Matthews gathered almost 90 percent of the vote in balloting in Senate District 45. She defeated Republican Al Fernandez, a small businessman and minister.

The district includes parts of six Lowcountry counties reaching from Charleston to Jasper County.

Matthews’ election means there will be two women in the Senate. The other is Republican Katrina Shealy of Lexington.

Pinckney was one of nine people killed in June at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston.