County to Have Three New Council Members

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

Anderson County Council will have three new members after Tuesday’s statewide primaries, with voters replacing two incumbents and one new member filling a seat to be open at the end of the year. Two county council members also held onto their seats.

In the South Carolina House races representing Anderson County, three incumbents held onto their seats and one race is headed to a runoff.

Anderson County Council Chairman Tommy Dunn was defeated by Josh Mann, who received 57.92 percent, or 2.308, of the 3,984 votes cast.

Anderson County Councilwoman Cindy Wilson, was defeated in her bid for reelection to the Dist. 7 seat in a close race with Collin Alexander took 50.53 percent, or 1,818 of the 3,598 votes in the race.

With 58.35 percent of the vote, or 3,005 votes, Dave Shalaby won the County Council Dist. 4 seat which will be vacated by County Council Vice Chairman Brett Sanders at the end of his term in December. Shalaby defeated Samuel Whatley who took 2,492 votes in the district.

Incumbent Dist. 1 County Councilman Chris Sullivan defeated challenger Kelly Koonce with 64.33 percent of the voters choosing to reelect. A total of 3,874 votes were cast in this race.

Incumbent County Dist. 6 Councilman Jimmy Davis easily defeated challenger Ryan Cowsert, with 76.70 percent, or 2,949 votes. Cowsert received 896 votes.

In the Anderson County Legislative Delegation races, S.C. Rep. April Cromer kept her Dist. 6 seat on Tuesday, with 3,806, or 57.35 percent of the votes cast. Challenger Kyle White received 2,830 votes, representing 42.65 percent.

The House Dist. 8 race is headed for a runoff, as incumbent S.C. Rep. Don Chapman took 44.98 percent of the 5,425 votes cast on Tuesday, falling short of the 50 percent needed to avoid a runoff. Chapman will face challenger Sherry Hodges, who took 42.53 percent of the vote. The other challenger, Patrick Orr, received 12.50 percent, forcing the runoff.

Incumbent Dist 10 S.C. Rep. Thomas Beach easily held onto his seat with 66.84 percent of the 3,471 votes cast Tuesday. Challenger Stewart Watson received 33.16 percent.

S.C. Rep. Craig Gagnon, Dist. 11, defeated challenger Jesse Turner, with 56.31 percent of 1,394 votes.