Rep. Will Wheeler, D-Bishopville, speaks on the House floor on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (Provided/SCETV Livestream)
COLUMBIA — A Lee County legislator unexpectedly resigned Thursday, further depleting the number of Democrats in the South Carolina House just three days into the 2025 session.
Rep. Will Wheeler’s surprise resignation, effective Friday, leaves 34 Democrats in the chamber of 124 seats. Wheeler’s will be the second vacancy.
Wheeler, a 50-year-old attorney, told reporters he can no longer dedicate the time needed to represent his district. One of the partners at his Bishopville law firm retired and the other was appointed a judge last year. That meant all the work fell to him, Wheeler said. Trying to run a law firm on his own while doing his legislative duties, which includes being in Columbia three days a week, would be too much, he said.
“I’ve got to take care of myself this year,” he told reporters.
Wheeler also said he plans to run for a judicial seat in 2026. To be eligible then, he needs to leave the Legislature now. In South Carolina, where the Legislature selects almost all judges, state law requires legislators to be out of office for at least a year before running to be a judge.
He said he’s not yet sure which bench he’ll pursue.
“The train’s going to leave the station next year if I want a shot at that,” he said.
A date for a special election has not yet been set, but by law an election must take place 20 weeks after the vacancy becomes official, said spokesman John Michael Catalano. That would make the election for Wheeler’s seat in June.
That means voters in his district spanning Lee, Kershaw, and Sumter counties are left without a state representative for the entire regular session, which ends in mid-May.
The House Democratic Caucus was already one down by voluntary resignation.
The seat previously held by former Rep. Marvin Pendarvis remains open after the North Charleston Democrat won re-election in November despite resigning two months earlier amid a lawsuit and state law enforcement investigation involving a legal client. After the election, he declined to accept the seat he won by default.
He’s guaranteed to be replaced by a Democrat. Three Democrats have filed to compete in a primary later this month. No Republican even attempted to run in the heavily Democratic district. But the special election isn’t until March 25.
Wheeler’s district is also considered a Democratic stronghold. He easily won a fifth term in November without a single opponent of any party.
In 2022, his only contested election since 2016, he defeated his Republican challenger by 20 percentage points.
So, politics played no role in his decision to leave. He didn’t fear a flip. He expects a Democrat to replace him in the district that includes all of Lee County and parts of Kershaw and Sumter counties, he said.
Others aren’t so sure.
In the House, Democrats managed to hang onto their seats in November, though they didn’t regain any of the eight they lost in 2022. In the Senate, however, four Democratic incumbents lost their seats.
That means “there certainly is a possibility” that a Republican could take the seat, said Rep. Roger Kirby, assistant minority leader in the House.
“This last (election) cycle showed us there’s no such thing as a safe seat anymore,” said the Lake City Democrat. “We’ll just have to support the Democratic candidate during the cycle and hope we’ll be successful.”
Even though Democrats wield no power on their own in the House against an 88-member Republican supermajority, “every vote counts,” Kirby said.
Democrats may not be able to stop legislation they oppose, “but we want to be able to present a firm argument,” he said.
“It’s not ideal, but we’ll work through it,” Kirby added.
Wheeler first won election in 2016, when he won an eight-way primary to replace Bishopville Democrat Grady Brown, who retired after 32 years in the chamber.
Despite working as a page in the Statehouse in 1993, a job in politics was far from Wheeler’s mind until the seat opened up, he said during a tearful goodbye speech on the House floor.
Wheeler said he actually made the decision to leave several weeks ago, after praying and consulting with family.
He intended to wait until the second week of session to make the announcement, saying he wanted more time to tell people privately beforehand. But when House leaders decided not to meet in the chamber next week, Wheeler realized he go ahead and announce, he said.
“As difficult as it is to leave this chamber, I know this is the right decision,” Wheeler said from the podium.
Fellow representatives have been supportive of his decision, even if it came as a shock to them, he told reporters afterward.
Wheeler “served with character and integrity,” House Speaker Pro Tem Tommy Pope said after Wheeler concluded his public good-bye.
“Every one of us that has served with you knows that your word was your bond,” the York Republican said. “If Will Wheeler told you something, you could take it to the bank.”
Wheeler, who sat on the powerful House Judiciary Committee, was well-liked in the Statehouse by legislators in both parties.
His measured insights on the legality of certain proposals were very useful to the Democratic caucus, Kirby said.
“He is going to be missed,” he said. “My goodness, he is going to be missed greatly.”