Third GOP ‘Sister Senator’ who filibustered South Carolina abortion ban loses primary

South Carolina state Sen. Katrina Shealy was defeated by fellow Republican Carlisle Kennedy in a runoff election Tuesday, becoming the third Republican woman who filibustered against South Carolina’s abortion ban two years ago to lose a primary.

Shealy is the last of the “Sister Senators” to lose their primary to a male challenger.

Kennedy garnered about 62 percent of the vote while Shealy, the longest-serving woman in the state Senate, received about 37 percent, according to the unofficial South Carolina results.

The Post and Courier reported that Shealy gave an early concession speech at a Western bar in Lexington County.

“There’s not a pathway to victory,” she told reporters, according to The Post and Courier. “If there is, I’ll come back.”

The Hill has reached out to Shealy’s campaign for comment.

The trio of Republican women — Shealy and state Sens. Sandy Senn and Penry Gustafson — joined Democrats to defeat a near-total ban on abortion in 2022.

The group of women, known as the “Sister Senators,” were all given the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award last year for risking their career for the greater good, The Associated Press reported.

Now, all three of them have lost their primary bids to Republican men, leaving no Republican women in the state Senate for 2025.

Senn lost her primary race to state Rep. Matt Leber by just 31 votes, The Associated Press reported.

Gustafson, who lost to Republican Allen Blackmon, said in a statement following the primary that the results “removed any ambiguity or question about where the voting Republicans stand regarding both life issues and women.”

The South Carolina Senate went on to pass an abortion ban last year that prohibits abortions after an ultrasound can detect cardiac activity, which is about six weeks into a pregnancy and before many women know they are pregnant.

The Associated Press contributed.

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