Rene Green defeats 2-term school board incumbent Paula Hartman.
WINNSBORO – Fairfield County voters changed the balance of power of the county government Tuesday night, turning out two of three county council incumbents.
Voters also narrowly rejected the capital project sales tax referendum (Penny Tax) with a 4,758 to 4,438 vote. The tax had been placed on the ballot to raise additional funds to pay for a proposed $32 million wastewater treatment plant.
With a razor thin margin of 6 votes, challenger Shirley Greene, with 956 votes, defeated District 2 County Councilman Jimmy Ray Douglas with 950 votes. Director of Fairfield County Voter Registration Debby Stidham said the less than one percent difference in the two vote totals will trigger an automatic recount which will be conducted on Friday. There are also 30 provisional votes that will be looked at by the county’s election commission on Friday as well.
In County Council District 4, former county employee Tim Roseborough defeated District 4 Councilwoman Bertha Goins with 796 votes to Goins’ 539. Cynthia Parnell-Rivers received 401 votes, and there were 19 write-in votes.
County Council Chairman Neil Robinson (District 6) easily retained his seat by defeating challenger Bob Prather in a landslide vote of 836 to 297. There were 89 write-in votes.
Senator Mike Fanning (D), with 7,550 votes defeated challenger Erin Mosley (R) with 4,472 votes.
Annie McDaniel (D) retained her seat in House District 41 with 7,458 votes to challenger Jennifer Brecheisen (R) with 4,566. Eleven write-in votes were cast.
School board trustee incumbent Joe Seibles fended off challenger Carrie Suber-O’Neal in a 1,112 to 600 vote. There were five write-ins votes.
Two-term school board trustee incumbent representing District 2, Paula Hartman was defeated by challenger Rene Green 1,045 to 716. There were 8 write-in votes.
In other local races, Fairfield County Sheriff Will Montgomery (D), with 9,830 votes, defeated Ed Eddie Jenkins with 1,854. There were 42 write-in votes.
Fairfield Clerk of Court Judy Bonds (D), unchallenged, took 10,905 votes over 114 write-in votes.
Fairfield County Coroner Chris Hill (D) was unchallenged and received 10,891 votes. There were 101 write-in votes.
According to voter registrations officials, there was an unprecedented 70+ percent turnout for all county races.
The results are preliminary and will be certified on Friday at 10 a.m. in the Voter Registration office.
An updated story will appear in the Thursday issue of The Voice.
