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Incumbents tossed in Clinton election, hold on in Laurens, CPW races

In a municipal election with contested races in three cities or towns, a low voter turnout of 12.75 percent was marked by upsets in at least a couple of races.

Up against two contenders for her District 1 council seat in the City of Laurens, long-term incumbent Marian Miller held onto her seat with 57.78 percent of the vote against challengers Tony Bailey and Phillip McClintock, who garnered 28 and 10 votes, respectively, against Miller’s 52 votes.

Incumbents didn’t fare well in Clinton, however, as both Norman Scarborough of District 5 and Mary Jean Byrd of District 3 lost their seats to newcomers. Scarborough tallied only 47 votes to Ronnie Roth’s 76, or 61.29 percent of
the votes cast. In a three-way race for Byrd’s seat, Robbie N. Neal just avoided a run-off with 50.57 percent of the vote, 44 for Neal to 39 for Byrd. Another challenger for Seat 3, Sasha Cotton, took 4 votes.

There had been two contested seats up for election to Laurens Commission of Public Works, one with an incumbent challenged and another open seat.

CPW Seat 1 incumbent  commissioner Brenda Curry easily held on to her seat with 106 votes, or 70.20 percent of the votes, to J. Scott Tollison’s 40 votes, or 26.49 percent of the vote. In the race for the Seat 2 left open by the resignation of long-time commissioner Tom Hardy last year, Jeff Thompson won even beyond the “50
percent-plus-one” required by the three-way race.

With 332 votes, Thompson took 62.29 percent of the vote to beat Tim R. Pulley with 104 votes, 19.51 percent, and Suzanne Lowry with 92 votes, 17.26 percent.

The election commission will certify the votes Thursday, March 9, at 11 a.m.

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