Former York County Sheriff Bryant to run for S.C. House 48

Former York County Sheriff Bruce Bryant says he will be the “voice for law enforcement” if he’s elected for public office this spring.

Bryant confirmed to The Herald Tuesday that he will run for the District 48 seat in the South Carolina House of Representatives. Filing for that race opens March 3 and closes March 13.

After 45 years in law enforcement — the last 20 of them as York County’s sheriff — Bryant said he’s looking forward to serving in the General Assembly as an advocate for law men across the state.

“I just feel like the voice of law enforcement would best understand the problems that law enforcement faces,” Bryant said. “It’ll be a good way for me to serve our community.”

The District 48 seat recently became vacant when former State Rep. Ralph Norman, R-Rock Hill, resigned to run for South Carolina’s 5th Congressional District seat.

The primary for the District 48 seat would be May 2. District 48 covers large portions of Rock Hill and Fort Mill. If necessary, a runoff will be held two weeks later, on May 16. The general election will be on June 20.

Bryant was unopposed in each of his four re-election bids leading up to his retirement announcement last year. He was replaced by his son-in-law Kevin Tolson.

Bryant recently created a Facebook page for his election bid.

Bryant said he was also looking to campaign on issues of education and community safety. He has also said he wants to push for more full-time prosecutors. He said that there are too few circuit solicitors to cover South Carolina’s 46 counties.

This story was originally published February 21, 2017 at 1:55 PM with the headline "Former York County Sheriff Bryant to run for S.C. House 48."