Greg Kitchens concedes, expresses support for Carl Ritchie in Charleston Co. Sheriff race

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – Tuesday marked the end of the race for Greg Kitchens after losing the Republican primary runoff election in the race to become the next Charleston County Sheriff.

Kitchens conceded around 9 pm when the results began to point towards a victory for his opponent, Carl Ritchie.

“Well, the results are not all in, but they’re in enough. And it looks like Carl Ritchie will be the nominee for the Republican Party to be the next sheriff of Charleston County,” Kitchens told the crowd at his watch party in Downtown Charleston. “Carl Ritchie is a good man, he’s run a good race, he’s a good friend, and I’ll tell you one thing; he’ll make a fine sheriff and a much better sheriff than the current incumbent.”

Kitchens encouraged the watch-party attendees to shift their support to Ritchie, who will be up against incumbent Sheriff Kristin Graziano in November.

“I do not think Kristin Graziano has done a good job as sheriff. She’s 65 deputies down, over 100 detention officers short in the Al Cannon Detention Center. We are losing prisoners. We have 11 dead, 12 dead, I’m not even sure. Moral is extremely low,” Kitchens responded when News 2 asked why he will support Ritchie over Sheriff Graziano.

Two weeks ago, Kitchens held a 3% lead over Ritchie in the primary, with 45% of the vote to Ritchie’s 42%. He said he felt strong about the runoff and said the results surprised him.

“I was told early on that the best place to go into a runoff is in second place. Being the underdog motivates your backers. Very much,” said Kitchens.

Kitchens called Ritchie to notify him of his concession.