SC Republican announces bid to fill Senate seat held by late Sen. Leatherman
A businessman and part-time game warden for the state’s Department of Natural Resources announced Tuesday he’s running to fill the unexpired term of the late state Sen. Hugh Leatherman, who represented Florence County for 41 years.
Republican Mike Reichenbach is so far the first candidate to publicly announce intentions to finish out Leatherman’s four-year term.
Reichenbach also plans to put $100,000 of his own money into his campaign.
Leatherman died Nov. 12 from a non-COVID-19-related illness.
The term for Senate District 31 ends in 2024.
In a campaign video, Reichenbach said he has been a certified law enforcement officer for more than 20 years, and works for the Department of Natural Resources as a game warden. In the ad, he referred to himself as anti-abortion, noting his birth mother gave him up for adoption when she was 14 years old.
Reichenbach currently serves on the Florence-Darlington Technical College Foundation Board. He was recently appointed to the Francis Marion University School of Business Advisory Board.
Reichenbach, who is Black and operates two car dealerships in Florence and one in Bluffton, said more business owners need to be in state government.
“We know what it’s like to balance budgets, to make payroll (and) to have to deal with things like frivolous lawsuits,” Reichenbach said.
Filing for the race opens Dec. 3 and runs through Dec. 11.
The primary election for the race is scheduled for Jan. 25, with a runoff if necessary on Feb. 8. The general election to fill Leatherman’s seat is March 29.
This story was originally published November 23, 2021 at 11:21 AM with the headline "SC Republican announces bid to fill Senate seat held by late Sen. Leatherman."
