A recount in the middle of the night Wednesday confirmed the reelection of Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), whose district abuts Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C., according to local publication Post and Courier.
Wilson fought off a challenge from 25-year-old Democrat Zyon Khalifa, who was just 2,840 votes from nearly unseating the senior congressman. The margin of a few thousand votes triggered the Nov. 10 recount.
During what has been nicknamed the “blue wave,” or the flipping of many Congressional seats and the turning of the majority to the Democrats, Wilson’s victory goes against the trend. On the Senate side, Democrat Annie Andrews defeated short-term incumbent Darline Graham, the Republican who this summer was appointed to fill the unexpired term of her late brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham.
Beginning his tenure in 2001 – nearly as long as his opponent has been alive – Wilson has been a longtime advocate for nuclear security and for funding at Savannah River Site through his position in the House Armed Services Committee. During the committee markup for the fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization Act in June, Wilson praised the defense policy bill to the Exchange Monitor for its line and policy items on plutonium pit production.
In September 2024, Wilson was hospitalized at age 77 for displaying “stroke-like symptoms.”
Wilson’s adopted son Joe Wilson also won the election to become South Carolina’s Republican governor-elect. He was previously attorney general of the state since 2011.
