WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. — Rep. Joe Wilson eked out another term in South Carolina’s 2nd Congressional District on Tuesday, surviving the closest general-election scare of his long House career.
Unofficial returns with counties reporting put the Republican at 147,620 votes, about 49.8% of the total. Democrat Zyon Khalifa finished with 144,593, about 48.8%. Workers Party candidate Dayna Alane Smith drew 3,665 ballots, roughly 1.2%.
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Wilson’s edge of about 3,027 votes is a sharp contrast with 2024, when he carried the Lexington-to-Aiken seat by more than 19 points in a race long labeled solidly Republican.
The district spans Lexington County and parts of Richland County stretching toward Aiken. Next door in District 6, Democrat Jim Clyburn was projected a winner near 69% against Republican John Peterson.
During the last Congress Wilson joined California Democrat Jimmy Panetta on a June 2025 measure aimed at labeling the Polisario Front a foreign terrorist organization. Panetta also won reelection Tuesday.
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