Charleston City Council special election to be decided by runoff

Jan. 12, 2022 3 p.m.

There will be a runoff between Boyd Gregg and Shawn Pinkston on Tuesday, Jan. 25 to decide Charleston City Council’s District 1 special election.

Running candidate Jen Gibson conceded the race on Wednesday, Jan. 12 after finding out that she fell short of the runoff by a handful of votes – by a margin of three votes. Gibson released the following statement via her campaign:

“Thank you to everyone who volunteered, donated, prayed, and voted for me in the District 1 special election. Unfortunately, we have fallen three votes short of advancing to the runoff. Even though it is incredibly close, it is in the best interest of our city to focus on the runoff election. Congratulations to Boyd Gregg and Shawn Pinkston. I wish them the best of luck as they begin their campaigns for the final phase. I would also like to take the opportunity to thank Tony Fogle and David Winkler for running. Our community is stronger when we have a variety of viewpoints expressed during the decision-making process. Finally, I would like to remind everyone in our community to vote. Turnout was low, and the results were decided by less than a handful of votes. Voting is our superpower. Use it.”

The following results are with all precincts reporting from Berkeley and Charleston counties:

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS

Boyd Gregg – 650 votes – 35.5%

Shawn Pinkston – 420 votes – 22.9% 

Jen Gibson – 417 votes – 22.8% 

David Winkler – 263 votes – 14.4%

Tony Fogle –  81 votes – 4.4%

Total number of votes: 1,831

Voter turnout: 14.4%

Jan. 12, 2022 9:30 a.m.

Tuesday night’s special election for Charleston City Council’s District 1 vacant seat is going to have a longer awaited outcome. The unofficial results are still incomplete, but it’s likely moving toward a runoff.

The five-candidate race has a clear top vote getter in Daniel Island resident Boyd Gregg, who received approximately 36% of the vote. However, no candidate received more than half of the votes and that’s because of a tightly contested race between Daniel Isalnd’s Shawn Pinkston, who tallied approximately 23%and Jen Gibson of Charleston who garnered 22%.

However, the results are still inconclusive because only seven of nine precincts have reported their votes. So far, the election has seen more than 1,600 ballots cast, including 100 absentee ballots in the mail, with a voter turnout of approximately 13%, according to unofficial results reported by Berkeley County.

The unofficial results including the number of votes each candidate received will be updated when all of the precincts have been reported. In the event of a runoff, residents will be asked to return to the polls on Tuesday, Jan. 25.

This is a developing story that will be updated when more information is made available to The Daniel Island News.

Daniel Island Publishing

225 Seven Farms Drive
Unit 108
Daniel Island, SC 29492 

Office Number: 843-856-1999
Fax Number: 843-856-8555

 

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