Jason Elliott wins in landslide in GOP primary in SC House District 22

Eric Connor | The Greenville News

This story has been updated to include final vote totals.

Republican Jason Elliott won the nomination for re-election to his state House of Representatives seat in a landslide that has farther-reaching implications to the future of the state GOP.

Elected two years ago, Elliott became the first openly gay legislator in what has traditionally been a heavily conservative District 22.

The primary race featured two challengers who both ran campaigns that questioned whether Elliott was forthcoming about his sexuality during the primary two summers ago.

The notion that voters might change course as Elliott's personal life became a focal point ultimately proved untrue. Elliott said that he thinks his nomination is proof that the GOP has evolved.

“I think we’ve reached a point that we can shut the door on that narrative," Elliott said before declaring victory during an after-party event. "People who go to work and do their job get a contract extension.”

Elliott handily defeated challengers Brett Brocato and Samuel Harms — Elliott 3,027, Brocato 1,866, Harms 288.

Elliott faces Democrat Bruce K. Brown in the November general election.

In November 2016, Brocato mounted a write-in campaign to challenge Elliott after he said the family law attorney didn't disclose to voters that he was gay in a district highly populated with conservative Christians.

Elliott never made it an issue and said questions only arose after the primary.

In a statement following Tuesday's results, Brocato thanked his family and supporters.

"In 2016, we had the second largest write-in campaign by percentage in S.C. history and in this year’s campaign, we achieved almost 40 percent of the vote despite being outspent by our opponent 10 to 1. Most of all, we are encouraged to see that South Carolinians continue to care about religious freedom and traditional family values. I will continue to encourage values voters to examine their candidates closely."

In this primary, Brocato declined to discuss his past assertions and said he wanted to "focus on the issues."

Harms made Elliott's sexual orientation his top issue. Harms didn't respond to a request to comment on the results.

During the campaign, neither Brocato nor Harms could point to a vote Elliott made that they disagreed with.

The issues of morality and family values have long permeated District 22, which stretches from the North Main neighborhood along Wade Hampton Boulevard past Bob Jones University and on to parts of Pelham Road.

Elliott's predecessor, Wendy Nanney, was the daughter of a Bob Jones University dean and supported traditionally Republican issues and championed legislation that prohibits abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Elliott campaigned against Nanney on what he said was a record of her absenteeism.

Elliott made it a point to highlight just how conservative he says his votes are — voting against last year's gas tax increase for road infrastructure; defending Second Amendment rights in part by calling for armed resource officers in every school and arming teachers if they possess advanced, military-level training; passing school-choice legislation; and receiving an endorsement from the anti-abortion group South Carolina Citizens for Life.

In the interest of supporting public safety, Elliott said he sponsored legislation that was enacted into law that re-institutes the requirement for vision screening for drivers.

To promote economic growth, he said he has led the legislative effort to allow technical schools to offer four-year degrees in applied manufacturing to help fill industrial jobs that pay well but remain empty.

Elliott also led the effort to remove the requirement that all high school students take the ACT college placement exam and allow them the choice to take a "career readiness test" instead to help remove what he sees as a stigma of attending technical college.

Follow Eric on Facebook and Twitter @cericconnor