Tag: Primary Elections
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Gibson Backs Lewis in Runoff for Sheriff
Will Montgomery 
Keith Lewis Montgomery Gets Nod from Richland County Sheriff
WINNSBORO – Ricky Gibson, whose bid for Sheriff came up short in the Sept. 30 special election Democratic primary, has thrown his support behind Keith Lewis in advance of this Tuesday’s primary runoff. Lewis, currently Chief Deputy at the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office, faces Richland County deputy Will Montgomery in Tuesday’s vote.
“He’s already in office and in a position to keep the continuity of the department together,” Gibson said. “He will be able to address any issues straight from the start, instead of having to find out what the issues are. He has made a pledge that he will actively address any and all issues brought to him and I am taking him at his word.”
Gibson earned 925 votes in the Sept. 30 primary, good enough for a third-place finish behind Lewis’s 1,595 and Montgomery’s 1,613. Those votes will be highly coveted by both candidates leading up to Tuesday’s winner take all vote. Gibson said he and Lewis will hit the campaign trail this week to round up votes in areas where Lewis under-performed two weeks ago and focus on areas where turnout was soft.
“I feel in those areas people were reluctant to come out and vote,” Gibson said. “We have to stress the importance to the county of that vote.”
Gibson said he has known Lewis for nearly the entirety of Lewis’s 30-plus-year career and said he believes Lewis will be a unifying force for the county.
“I believe he will be able to unify the county, for the benefit of everyone in the county,” Gibson said.
Lewis was endorsed early in his campaign by outgoing Sheriff Herman Young, who stepped down in late July for health reasons. A special election to fill out the remaining two years on Young’s term will be held Nov. 18, but with no Republicans filing, Tuesday’s runoff will all but officially fill the position.
Montgomery, meanwhile, received the endorsement this week of his employer, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott.
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See You in Two Weeks . . .
Keith Lewis 
Will Montgomery Sheriff’s Race Heads to Run-Off
WINNSBORO – Voters failed to pick a clear winner in Tuesday’s primary for the special election for Fairfield County Sheriff. They did, however, narrow the field of candidates down to two.
Keith Lewis, currently the Chief Deputy for the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office, and Will Montgomery, a Richland County Sheriff’s deputy, will square off again in two weeks for a run-off. Lewis earned 1,595 votes in Tuesday’s primary pick-‘em, while Montgomery hauled in 1,613.
“I’m pleased with the turnout and hopefully it will happen again,” Montgomery said Tuesday night. “I am concerned about getting people out for the run-off.”
Looking ahead, Montgomery said his strategy was to “keep on moving like I’m moving and not slow down.”
Lewis, meanwhile, was more philosophical about the results and the pending mano a mano showdown.
“I want to thank all my supporters and ask them to please come back out in two weeks and do it again,” Lewis said. “My strategy moving forward is to continue doing what I’ve been doing and leave it in the Lord’s hands.”
Lewis said he had hoped the turnout would have been more robust, but said he understands the turnout challenges of a special election. Odell Glenn, who finished a distant fifth with only 95 votes, said the low turnout was “truly a shame in such an important election.”
Ricky Gibson finished third with 925 votes. John Seibles garnered 550 votes.
“The people’s voice has been heard,” Gibson said. “I wish them both well.”
Gibson and Seibles said they were not officially endorsing either of the remaining candidates at this time. Glenn, meanwhile, said he was throwing his support behind Montgomery.
The primary run-off will be Oct. 14.
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State Democrats Deny McDaniel Protest
The Chairman of the S.C. Democratic Party has denied a request for a hearing to protest the results of the June 26 runoff election in the Democratic Primary for the District 41 seat in the S.C. State House.
Annie E. McDaniel, who lost to MaryGail Douglas by 742 votes in the June 26 runoff, submitted the request for a hearing to the State Party June 28. Dick Harpootlian, Chairman of the State Democratic Party, issued a denial in a letter dated July 2.
“Your request has been denied on the grounds that your complaint is improperly based on S.C. Code Section 7-17-560, which merely applies to the procedure by which a candidate my protest the results of an election, and not to whether or not a candidate improperly appears on the ballot seeking party nomination,” Harpootlian’s letter states.
McDaniel’s campaign claimed in their request for a hearing that Douglas was not properly certified by the Fairfield County Democratic Party to appear on the ballot and that Douglas failed to file a Statement of Economic Interest (SEI) at the same time that she filed her Statement of Intention for Candidacy (SIC) in accordance with a June ruling by the S.C. Supreme Court (Florence County Democratic Party vs. Florence County Republican Party).
Ernest Yarborough, who is serving as a media consultant for the McDaniel campaign on the issue, said he was confused by Harpootlian’s decision.
“Once a candidate files a protest, the State Party must meet and hold a hearing,” Yarborough said. “They don’t have any choice. They don’t have the authority to deny a hearing.”
According to S.C. Code Section 7-17-560, “The state executive committee must meet in Columbia at such place as may be designated by the chairman to hear and decide protests and contests that may arise in the case of federal officers, state officers, State Senate, State House of Representatives, and officers involving more than one county.”
Yarborough noted that the law states “must,” and referred to a similar protest filed June 12 with the State Republican Party by District 3 Representative B.R. Skelton. Like McDaniel, Skelton requested his hearing under 7-17-560 and was heard by the State Republicans.
“If you look at (Skelton’s protest), he did the exact same thing,” Yarborough said, “and he got a hearing with the Republican Party.”
The State GOP this week overturned the results in the District 3 primary, naming Skelton the winner over Ed Harris.
Yarborough said that McDaniel will likely have to ask the Party to reconsider, but because of Harpootlian’s decision, McDaniel’s case has become suddenly more complex.
“Now the question becomes how can she get a fair hearing after the Chairman denied her initial hearing,” Yarborough said. “This is a bigger issue now. The question is if Annie McDaniel is getting any justice.”
Yarborough said that 7-17-560 is the only statute by which a candidate can file a protest, that the Party has no choice other than to hold a hearing and then judge the protest on its merits.
Sources said Tuesday afternoon that McDaniel plans to appeal the decision.
Attempts to reach Harpootlian were unsuccessful at press time.
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McDaniel Campaign Protests Runoff
The runner-up in last week’s Democratic primary runoff for the District 41 seat in the S.C. State House has filed a protest with the state party.
Annie E. McDaniel, who lost to MaryGail Douglas by nearly 1,000 votes in the June 26 runoff, filed a protest with the State Democratic Party Friday, claiming that Douglas did not file her Statement of Economic Interest (SEI) at the same time she filed her Statement of Intention for Candidacy (SIC), as mandated by a recent ruling of the S.C. Supreme Court (Anderson v. S.C. Election Commission).
“The Court clarified that filing a paper copy of an SEI simultaneously with the filing of an SIC is the only method by which a non-exempt candidate can comply,” McDaniel’s protest states.
The McDaniel campaign also states that the Fairfield County Democratic Party did not hold a meeting in order to properly certify candidates following the Court’s decision.
Ernest Yarborough, who is acting as media consultant for the McDaniel campaign, said the issue is simply about the rule of law.
“No one is above the law,” Yarborough said. “MaryGail Douglas slipped through the cracks, and that’s not fair. She should simply resign.”
Tangee Bryce Jacobs, Chairwoman of the Fairfield County Democratic Party, could not be reached for comment; however, an official inside the County Party, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the County Party has never met, nor was it ever instructed to meet, in order to certify candidates.
“We followed the State Party’s instructions to the letter,” the Party official said.
Furthermore, the Party official added, Douglas did, in fact, file all of her paperwork on time and in accordance with the Court’s ruling.
“All of my paperwork was filed properly,” Douglas said Monday. “I really don’t understand. There are people who live in chaos and when things don’t go their way, there’s a trigger they pull and aim it at whoever gets in their way. They like to throw fits, and this is a Fairfield County fit. This sort of thing seems to follow some people.”
McDaniel is requesting that the State Party declare Douglas ineligible as a candidate. She is also requesting that subpoenas be issued to County Party officials, with a request for them to appear with all records at a hearing to establish the allegations.
Phone calls to McDaniel, as well as to the State Party, were not returned at press time.
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Unofficial Results: Young, Douglas win primary runoff
Although the results will not become official until Friday, preliminary tallies indicate that MaryGail Douglas will represent the Democratic Party in the November general election for the District 41 seat in the S.C. State House of Representatives.
Douglas beat out District 4 School Board Trustee Annie E. McDaniel with 2,732 votes in Fairfield County (57.86 percent) to McDaniel’s 1,990 (42.14 percent). Douglas also picked up an additional 52 votes from District 41 voters in Richland County and Chester County in the race. McDaniel added 208 to her total with out-of-county votes.
Douglas will face William Gray, a Ridgeway Republican, in the November race for the House.
Meanwhile, in a nail-biter, Herman Young appears to have earned another term as Fairfield County Sheriff. Young edged out challenger Will Montgomery by just 176 votes – 2,480 to 2,304. Young won 51.84 percent of the vote while Montgomery garnered 48.16 percent. It was not clear at press time if a recount would be necessary. Young will face no opposition in November.
Young performed best in Blair, taking 87.5 percent of the vote in that precinct. Montgomery’s best numbers came from Centerville, where he brought in 75 percent of the vote. The narrowest margin came out of Hickory Ridge, where Young won 51.3 percent to 48.7 percent. Young also held the edge in absentee ballots with 53.03 percent to Montgomery’s 46.97 percent.
In the House race, Douglas saw her best numbers come out of Gladden Grove where she won 90.91 percent of the vote. McDaniel got her best returns from Jenkinsville, her home turf, where she took 86.24 percent of the vote. Douglas also won 70.2 percent of the absentee ballots, 415 of which were cast prior to Tuesday’s vote.
