Mayoral election continues on June 11

The Loris mayoral election ended at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 28. The candidates and family members as well as their supporters filled the seats at the Public Safety Building where the Election Committee, Venson Powers and Melzetta Gore, opened the provisional boxes, tallied the votes for each candidate and announced the absentee votes. The candidates vying for mayor for the city were Jeannie Tyler-Fox, Joan Gause, Mike Suggs and Todd Harrelson.

The West Precinct residents voted as follows, Fox 5, Gause 56, Suggs 31 and Harrelson 58. In the East Precinct the count was Fox 9, Gause 8, Suggs 83 and Harrelson 121. Absentee votes accounted for Fox 1, Gause 4, Suggs 66 and Harrelson 2. The East Precinct had one write-in candidate, David Stoudemire, and two provisional ballots.

Provisional ballots will be verified where a voter either had no identification or the address at the Voter Registration is different than that on the drivers license provided. Once verified they will be tallied in with the total votes.

Again there is a 1 vote difference between two of the four candidates, Todd Harrelson (182) and Mike Suggs (181), neither had more than one half of the votes, therefore a run-off election will be held on Tuesday, June 11. The candidates have two weeks to prepare and campaign for the residents’ votes for the office of mayor. The Election Committee official announcement will be made on Thursday, May 30, at 10:30 a.m. at the Public Safety Building

A Loris resident, Paula Lewis, was at the East Precinct early that afternoon. She said, “I came to vote to make a difference in the town.. Celeste Griffin said, “We need a change in Loris, we need more jobs, shops and stores, we need more ‘mom and pop’ stores and restaurants.. She continued, “We need activities for the kids in our city. There is nothing for the kids to do and they wonder why our drug and crime rate is going up, they don’t have anything else to do.. One of the most valuable assets she finds to be important is, “The city council needs to get this done, the mayor can’t do it by himself, he needs a strong city council to pull together and get the community back on track like Loris use to be.”

Suggs said, “I am happy to be in the run-off, I knew it was going to be close and suspected there would be a run-off with four candidates in the race.. He continued, “I’m glad this part of it is done and I look forward to campaigning real hard for the run-off in two weeks.. Harrelson said, “I’m thankful, just thankful. I’m looking forward to two weeks from now.”

Jeannie Fox said, “I am a little disappointed that more people did not go to the polls and vote today.. She further stated that she would still like to see change and improvements for Loris. As a mom Fox asked her daughter Cora if she learned anything from the process; Cora is 11 years old and helped with the campaign and expressed the steps Fox took to proceed as a candidate. “The best example to give my child is stepping up taking a risk to bring change to a city we love dearly.” she said. Fox continued, “This election came fast and furious with the unexpected death of Mayor Henry Nichols, I am glad it is over and I can relax.. She said that the important part is that she enjoyed the journey and has learned much about how the city is run. She said, “One thing that is very disappointing is the lack of promotion for the mayoral forum, with very few registered voters in attendance.. She is thankful to those who supported her through the campaign and sad that only 450 people came to the polls to vote, she said, “If you don’t vote you are part of the problem not a part of the solution.”

Residents will prepare to vote on Tuesday, June 11, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the East Precinct at Loris Elementary School and at the West Precinct at the James P. Stevens Office Complex on Walnut Street.