Carl Ritchie wins GOP primary runoff for Charleston County sheriff

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD)- After two weeks back on the campaign trail, Carl Ritchie has won the Republican runoff for Charleston County sheriff.

Ritchie garnered 59.63% percent of the vote, with Greg Kitchens taking 40.37% percent in Tuesday’s runoff election, according to unofficial results from the South Carolina Election Commission.

Kitchens conceded the race Tuesday night.

Ritchie will advance to the Nov. 5 general election to face incumbent Sheriff Kristin Graziano, who was unopposed in the Democratic primary.

He and Kitchens were forced into a runoff after neither candidate secured enough votes in the June 11 primary to win the nomination outright.

Ritchie, 59, was the longtime chief of the Mount Pleasant Department. He retired from the department in May 2021 and was elected to Mount Pleasant Town Council later that year.

Throughout the campaign, Ritchie pledged to bring “strong leadership” to the sheriff’s office and often touted his longstanding law enforcement background in the Charleston area as what makes him best suited to lead it.

There are several new initiatives Ritchie said he would bring to the agency from a data-driven staffing approach to a greater focus on school security. He also plans to use a “proactive and community policing” approach to improve services in unincorporated areas of the county.

Ritchie credits his victory tonight largely to his 33 years in law enforcement, “No question, the relationships I built over the years. Not just with other law enforcement leaders, but current chiefs now in the agencies across the Lowcountry. I know them all. We all worked together and grew up in the ranks together.”

He earned endorsements from a slew of local and state leaders in the primary race, including former CCSO Sheriff Al Cannon, Mount Pleasant Mayor Will Haynie, former North Charleston mayor Keith Summey, and Ninth Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson.