Bennettsville elects new mayor

BENNETTSVILLE- Less than 2,000 registered voters turned out for the 2023 Municipal elections Tuesday.

In the city of Bennettsville, Leith Fowler was elected mayor, unseating incumbent Carolyn Prince.

Fowler, 60, announced in August that he’d run for mayor. At that time, he said, “Like many others, I’ve become concerned about the lack of positive community involvement and the apathy among citizens, which leads to a negative public image of our town. And I think it’s time for new leadership who will look for new solutions for many of our persistent problems. My goals will include bringing people together from all segments of our community with improved communication and cooperation.”

Fowler said he is astounded by the people who showed up to the polls to support him on election day. “It was unreal the support that I got,” he said. Fowler received 71.45 % of the vote Tuesday.

Fowler said he looks forward to sitting down with Bennettsville city administrator William Simon Jr. to go over the projects that he has on his plate and start the process of restoring downtown.

“It’s a turn the lights back on kind of thing and start getting people interested,” he said. “We have to get some pride back in Bennettsville and it has to be everybody. It’s not going to be just me. We’ve got to get people involved in wanting to save downtown. That’s one of my goals.”

Fowler also plans to focus on the Shady Rest and Richardson Park projects as well.

In District Four, the only city council race with multiple candidates, Bill Jennings won the seat with 55.72 % of the vote. The Marlboro County Board of Voter Registrations and Elections reported that two streets in the district were incorrectly redistricted and 35 people on those streets were registered to vote. Christina Thompson, director of Marlboro County Board of Voter Registrations and Elections said seven of those voters showed up Tuesday to vote and when it was brought to the board’s attention that the ballots didn’t list Donna “Cricket” Ridges, the voters were given the correct ballot at the voter registration office.

“It’s the voter’s responsibility yo let the poll manager know that they have gotten the wrong ballot,” she said.

In McColl, there are two new Town Council members, Harry L. Benjamin Jr. and David Garner. George Garner was reelected at McColl’s mayor.

Chris McArthur and Morgan Pate are the two new Town Council members in the town of Clio.

1,926 voters out of the 6,107 voters registered in Bennettsville, Clio and McColl voted on Tuesday.

Unofficial Election Results from the 2023 Municipal Elections:

Bennettsville—

Mayor:

Leith Fowler: 851

Carolyn Prince: 338

Write-In: 2

City Council 02

Tyrone R. Davis: 160

Write-In: 15

City Council 04

Bill Jennings: 112

Donna “Cricket” Ridges: 69

Earl H. Bullard Jr.: 20

City Council 06

Gregory Scott Sr.: 96

Write-In: 6

McColl—

Mayor:

George Garner: 324

Robert Outlaw: 261

Write-In: 1

Town Council McColl (Vote for 6)

Brian Blue: 441

Harry L. Benjamin Jr.: 402

RC Cummings: 389

Lynn Kubas: 377

David Garner: 352

Jody C. Stubbs: 347

David Limbacher: 278

Write-In: 21

Clio—

Town Council (Vote for 2)

Chris McArthur: 71

Morgan Pate: 64

Rena Smith McLain: 44

Randy Neely: 30

Cathy Helsel: 28

Natasha Miles: 19

Kenneth Phillips: 7

Write-In: 1