NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – The race to the Democratic nomination for the South Carolina Senate 42 seat is not over yet.

South Carolina State Representatives Wendell Gilliard and Deon Tedder will compete in a runoff election on September 19, following the unofficial results of the special primary election on Tuesday. The race will determine who will run against the Republican candidate, Rosa Kay, on November 7.

Neither candidate reached the percentage of votes needed to be declared the winner.

“One candidate has to reach at least 50% plus one of the vote,” explained Joshua Dickard, the Deputy Director of Election Operations for the Charleston County Board of Elections.

According to the unofficial results, Rep. Gilliard received nearly 47% of the votes. He also led the race among Charleston County voters. He told News 2 he will continue his grassroots approach to his campaign ahead of the runoff.

“You keep it real; you go to where the people are. You talk to people, and I’ve been doing that all my life, really,” Rep. Gilliard said on Wednesday.

Nearly 39% of total votes went to Rep. Tedder who had a narrow lead in Dorchester County. He said he planned to get back to work Wednesday, knocking on doors and encouraging voters to show up in two weeks.

He also said he planned to clear up confusion on polling locations.

“So, a lot of people I believe that we could have gotten votes from just didn’t have the information they needed and that’s another thing I’m going to push this time and put in a call to the election commission so that we can make sure it’s clear where people vote,” said Rep. Tedder.

Rep. Gilliard brings years of experience in politics to the race, which he pointed to as a way to win over voters.

“They know that I bring more experience. They know that the fact that I proved that I can get things done and that says a lot in politics,” he said. “Experience does matter.”

At the age of 33, Rep. Tedder said he would be the youngest sitting state senator in South Carolina, if elected.

“I think it will be good because I bring a unique and different perspective. The experiences I’ve had in my life are a lot different from those that are currently serving in the senate, and I think that will go well with, you know, communication,” Rep. Tedder told News 2 on Monday.

Representative JA Moore was also in the running for the vacant senate seat, however he had the least number of votes on Tuesday.

Rep. Gilliard said if elected, he will focus on teacher retention, better wages, and pension for state employees, and combatting gun violence. Rep. Tedder said he will fight for women’s rights, public education, housing, and criminal justice reform.

Both candidates said they are backing the hate crimes bill.