Bill Collins is an independent candidate for the South Carolina State Senate, 38th district, this year. He is a well-known publisher and he could perhaps win the general election. His only opponent is a Republican. See this story. Independents were elected to the State House in 1992, 1994, 1996 and 1998, but South Carolina hasn’t had an independent, or a member of a minor party, in the State Senate since 1894.