Reichenbach defeats Jordan, will face La Rochelle for District 31 state Senate seat

FLORENCE COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — Republican Mike Reichenbach will continue his bid to fill the state District 31 Senate seat after defeating his opponent Jay Jordan in Tuesday’s Primary election, according to final, unofficial results.

The tentative results of Tuesday’s voting showed Reichenbach with 5,577 votes, or 52.97%. Jordan collected 47.03%, or 4,951. There were 10,549 votes cast in the election, which saw a turnout of 14.88%. The county has 70,906 registered voters.

Jordan conceded the race early in the evening after early results showed him trailing Reichenbach by as many as 4 percentage points.

A news release from Jordan’s office said Jordan called Reichenbach, “who graciously accepted his congratulations.”

“Jay offered him his support and told him he looks forward to helping him ensure a Republican represents Florence in the State Senate. Jay pledges that they will work together as a team to represent Florence in Columbia,” the release said. “Words cannot express how thankful Jay is for all of those who have supported the campaign over the last two months. Tonight, didn’t go the way we wanted, but there will be other days and other races, and — above all else — still a lifetime’s worth of opportunities for Jay to continue serving
his friends, neighbors, and fellow citizens of Florence.”

Reichenbach will face Democratic candidate Suzanne La Rochelle in a special March 29 election, with the winner earning the right to fill the seat formerly held by longtime Sen. Hugh Leatherman, who died in November after a battle with cancer.

Jordan is currently a member of the South Carolina House, while Reichenbach is the owner of several car dealerships in the Pee Dee.

Reichenbach said throughout his campaign that he has been listening more to people in the community about what their needs are and that is what motivated him to keep going. 

Jordan, a Florence native, described himself as a family man, church deacon and Sunday school teacher and said his experiences in the House are what makes him the man to fill the seat.