Dem Joe Cunningham turns Sanford open seat blue in South Carolina

Democrat Joe Cunningham is projected win his bid to represent South Carolina’s 1st district, defeating a candidate closely aligned with President Trump and shifting a ruby red coastal district into Democratic hands for the first time in decades.

Cunningham, a former ocean engineer turned lawyer, defeated Republican state Rep. Katie Arrington. The seat opened up this year after Arrington toppled Rep. Mark Sanford, an outspoken Trump critic and member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, in the GOP primary.

While Trump carried the Charleston-area district by about 12 points in 2016, Arrington – who ran on a pro-Trump platform – had failed to pull away from Cunningham in the general election.

Cunningham, 36, raised more money than Arrington and picked up endorsements from a number of Republican mayors in the state. He is opposed to offshore drilling and seismic testing.