14 Left Off Ballot in Lexington County

The tally is in, and 13 Republicans and one Democrat will be kicked off the June 12 party primary ballot for a slew of state and county races

are in danger of not appearing on the June primary ballots.

You can view the new list of certified GOP candidates statewide here and Democrats here.

The decertified candidates were removed Friday afternoon for their failure to properly file Statement of Economic Interest forms in compliance with state election law.

The lone Lexington Democrat off the ballot is Walid Hakim, an armed services veteran and Occupy Columbia stalwart running to challenge incumbent Republican Rep. Mac Toole for the District 88 House seat. Hakim told Patch Thursday that he plans to run as a petition candidate in the November general election.

The carnage hit the GOP the hardest in Republican-dominated Lexington County. The following local GOP candidates -- all challengers -- were removed from the ballot Friday:

• Mike Blakely -- Clerk of Court
• Suzanne Moore -- Clerk of Court
• Tommy Windsor -- Clerk of Court
• Clay Burkett -- County Coroner
• Megan Hutto -- County Council District 1
• Anthony Keisler -- County Council District 3
• Darrell Hudson -- County Council District 3
• James Spangler -- County Council District 3
• Scott Adams -- County Council District 3
• Robert Schaeffer -- County Council District 4
• Eddie McCain -- S.C. House District 39
• April M. McIver -- Register of Mesne Conveyance
• Katrina Shealy -- S.C. Senate District 23

Several of the candidates already have said that they, like Hakim, plan to become petition candidates, enabling them to be placed on the November ballot. 

To do so, however, the candidates would have to gather the certified signatures of at least five percent of registered voters in the area their office covers. They must present those signatures for validation, along with properly filed forms and fees, by noon on July 16.

"I'm not going away just because the Supreme Court said I can't be on the Republican Party primary ballot," a defiant Burkett said.

The shakeup also means that many incumbents in Lexington and statewide will no longer face party primary opposition. And for GOP incumbents in Republican-dominated Lexington who might face Democratic opposition in November, the races are still their's to lose.

Among those local incumbents with suddenly no opposition are state Rep. Mac Toole, County Council members Jim Kinard and Debbie Summers, and state Sen. Jake Knotts.