Three men filed to run in the special Republican primary for S.C. Senate District 41.

Paul Thurmond, Wally Burbage and S.C. Sen. Walter Hundley have filed as candidates for the race, according to Charleston County Republican Party Chair Lin Bennett. A special primary is set for Tuesday, Sept. 18 for the vote.

The race was one of dozens across South Carolina caught up in the S.C. Supreme Court decisions in Anderson and Florence counties that removed more than 200 candidates from ballots due to them improperly filing for their respective races.

Initially the Charleston County GOP disqualified four candidates from that race following the high court rulings, but maintained that Thurmond was exempt from the technicality that caught nearly every non-incumbent candidate in the state. However a circuit court judge ruled against Thurmond last month in a case brought by former Charleston County Democratic Party Chair George Tempel. 

In that case Judge Earnest Kinard ruled that Thurmond was ineligible as a candidate in the race under the filing rules, but in a twist he also allowed the GOP to hold a new special primary to choose a candidate for the race, and he said that Thurmond would be allowed to file as a candidate in the special primary.

Tempel, joined by the South Carolina State Election Commission, appealed that part of the ruling, but last week the S.C. Supreme Court sided with Republicans and allowed filing for the special primary to move forward.

Paul Tinkler was the only candidate left on the Democratic Party's ballot for the seat following the Supreme Court rulings that removed another Democrat from the race. Early on in the case against Thurmond, Thurmond's legal team filed a countersuit against Tinkler's candidacy, however that suit was later withdrawn.

Hundley already beat Tinkler in a close race for the seat once this summer, though that race was only to fill out the rest of the term that now Lt. Gov. Glenn McConnell left when he resigned that Senate seat to take the role of lieutenant governor following the resignation of former Lt. Gov. Ken Ard over ethics violations.

Hundley won the seat under the old district lines which included only portions of Charleston County. The new district lines, which will be in effect for the November general election include six voting precincts in Dorchester County as well.

Burbage was also a candidate against Hundley in the primary for the Senate seat that Hundley now holds. He was also one of five people ultimately kicked off the GOP ballot for the general election for the Senate District 41 seat.