Voter turnout was low in Beaufort County as residents went to the polls Tuesday, March 19 to cast their vote for Republican and Democratic candidates running for the U.S. House of Representatives District 1 primary.

Unofficial results from the Beaufort County Board of Elections and Registration show reports in from all precincts in Beaufort County and the four other counties represented.

Former Governor Mark Sanford took a commanding lead over the 15 other candidates in the Republican primary with 37% of the votes. The candidate Sanford is most likely to face in the runoff election is Curtis Bostic with 13% of the votes.

For the Democratic primary, Elizabeth Colbert-Busch received 96% of the votes over candidate Ben Frasier with 4%.

There were 15,642 ballots cast in Beaufort County, making voter turnout at only 15.5%.

The Republican runoff election will be held Tuesday, April 2, with the general election on May 7.