Hello REALTORS®,
Because elections in South Carolina are skewed toward one of the two major political parties, most elections are settled in the party primaries. The primaries are on June 11 and early voting opens two weeks before the primary. It’s not too early to start doing your homework about the candidates. On the ballot in the Western Upstate will be the following offices:
- President of the United States
- US House District 3
- Solicitor District 10
- SC House
- SC Senate
- County Council
- Clerk of Court
- Sheriff
- Coroner
- Treasurer
- Auditor
- Williamston City Council
- Clemson City Council
In the last Watchdog Report, which is linked here (use the URL for the last Watchdog). This week, I am covering county councils, sheriff, and other county-level offices.
Anderson County
Clerk of Court
- Clerk of Court C. Reena Thomason, Republican Party
Sheriff
- Sheriff Chad McBride, Republican Party
Coroner
- Coroner Greg Shore, Republican Party
- James Hayes, Republican Party
Treasurer
- Treasurer Jason Phillips, Republican Party
Auditor
- Auditor John Benca, Republican Party (REALTOR®)
County Council District 1
REALTOR® John Wright Jr. is not running for reelection.
- Chris Sullivan, Republican Party
County Council District 2
- Councilman Glenn Davis, Democratic Party
County Council District 3
- Councilman Greg Elgin, Republican Party
County Council District 4
- Council Vice Chairman Brett Sanders, Republican Party
- Dave Shalaby, Republican Party
County Council District 5
- Council Chairman Tommy Dunn, Republican Party
- Robert Tony McCurry, Republican Party
County Council District 6
- Councilman Jimmy Davis, Republican Party
County Council District 7
- Councilwoman Cindy Wilson, Republican Party (REALTOR®)
Oconee County
Clerk of Court
- Clerk of Court Melissa C. “Lisa” Burton, Republican Party
Sheriff
- Sheriff Mike Crenshaw, Republican Party
Coroner
- Coroner Karl E. Addis, Republican Party
Treasurer
Treasurer Gregorie Nowell is retiring.
- Chief Deputy Treasurer Tonya Keller, Republican Party
- Gena Acree, Republican Party
Auditor
- Auditor Christy W. Hubbard, Republican Party
County Council District 2
- Council Chairman Matthew Durham, Republican Party
- India Lancaster, Republican Party
County Council District 4
- Councilman Julian Davis, Republican Party
- Thomas James, Republican Party
County Council District 5
- Councilman James G. “Glenn” Hart, Republican Party
- Gwen McPhail, Republican Party
Pickens County
Pickens County is divided between the Greater Greenville Association of REALTORS® and the Western Upstate Association of REALTORS®. About 2/3 of the county’s population is in GGAR’s territory and about 1/3 is in WUAR’s territory. The two council districts that cover WUAR’s area (districts 1 and 2) are not on the ballot this year. None-the-less, we want you to know about the races in Pickens County.
Clerk of Court
- Clerk of Court Harold Welborn, Republican Party
Sheriff
Sheriff Rick Clark is retiring.
- David Harrison, Republican Party
- Tommy Blankenship, Republican Party
- Chuck James, Republican Party
- Damon Hubber, Republican Party
- Michael Aaron Ticknor, Republican Party
Coroner
Coroner Kandy Kelley is retiring.
- Chief Deputy Coroner Andrew Wilson, Republican Party
Treasurer
- Treasurer Dale Looper, Republican Party
Auditor
- Auditor Brent Suddeth, Republican Party
County Council District 3
- Councilman Alex Saitta, Republican Party
- Justin Durham, Republican Party
County Council District 4
- Council Vice Chairman Roy Costner, Republican Party
- Scott Lang, Republican Party
County Council District 5
- Council Chairman Chris Bowers, Republican Party
- Mason Sims, Republican Party
- Brandon Thomas, Republican Party
County Council District 6
- Councilman Henry Wilson, Republican Party
- Dale Holloway, Republican Party
Your Western Upstate Association of REALTORS® is screening the various candidates over the next several weeks and GGAR is screening the candidates in Pickens County. We will provide you with a Voter Guide in May.
Support RPAC
RPAC is an important element of your Realtors Association’s advocacy program. I encourage you to support RPAC, and we make it easy to do so—we include a voluntary RPAC contribution on your annual dues renewal. Simply pay it and you have support RPAC. If you want to do more that modest amount, that’s easy too.
Michael Dey, Director of Government Affairs