Hughes wins District 55 special election

Mike Hughes

Mike Hughes won a special election Tuesday to fill the vacant district 4 seat on the Laurens County School District 55 Board of Trustees.

Hughes, a Laurens District 55 graduate, defeated Betty Ann Neely 200-25 with two write-in votes among the 227 ballots cast. The seat serves the Hickory Tavern area.

“I just want to thank everybody in the community for their support,” Hughes said, calling for common-sense approaches to issues facing the district.

“I want to have the best schools we can have, but we can’t keep putting more tax burden on the people,” he said.

The special election was initially to be held in April, but Gov. Henry McMaster delayed all special elections due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The seat became open when Mark Earle abruptly resigned from the District 4 seat this past February. Earle had been elected to a four-year term in November of 2018.