BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C.—There were a lot of key races voters in Berkeley County helped to determine but none of them probably attracted more attention than the sheriff’s and supervisor’s race. For the first time since taking office, Sheriff Wayne DeWitt faced two challengers. Berkeley Co. Supervisor Dan Davis, who’s been in that role for the last eight years, also faced competition from Moncks Corner’s mayor and a local businessman.
Out of the 100,000 registered voters in Berkeley County, Elections Director Adam Hammons says approximately 20% of them headed to the polls in Tuesday’s primary. Although there were reports of voters showing up at the wrong precincts, Hammons says overall Tuesday’s primary went off without a hitch.
Sheriff Wayne DeWitt wins re-election
For the first time since his 20 years in office, Sheriff Wayne DeWitt faced competition from two local police officers. Brian Adams with North Charleston Police challenged DeWitt in the June 10th Republican Primary as well as Matt
Smoak, and officer with the Charleston Police Department.
After a lot of campaigning from all three candidates, DeWitt ultimately walked away the winner with 58.71% of the vote. Adams came in second with 35.03% and Smoak came in third with 6.26%.
“I was sweating bullets the entire time,” joked the sheriff. “You can probably tell, but I’m pretty exhausted.”
DeWitt celebrated his victory Tuesday night at the Oaks Country Club in Goose Creek.
“I think overall I just appreciate the support we received from the Berkeley Co. citizens, and it somewhat speaks volumes about the Berkeley Co. Sheriff’s Office. I think we’re headed in the right direction,” added DeWitt.
DeWitt says he’s looking forward to what the next four years in office brings and hopes to continue helping better the community..
“We’ve got a good team in place. We received our accreditation earlier this year, and I’m proud of that,” DeWitt stated.
During the sheriff’s race, DeWitt took a lot of criticism for the new detention center sitting empty and unstaffed after several years. While the sheriff argued that it ultimately came down to money his department didn’t have, his says that could soon be changing.
Recently, Supervisor Dan Davis included in the county’s proposed budget the hiring of more than a dozen officers to help finally staff the new jail.
“We’ll be able to occupy the rest of the detention center, which is a good thing,” added DeWitt.
After the new detention center is staffed, DeWitt says he hopes the county will be able to help provide funding for additional officers on the streets.
“We have a population boom in Berkeley County. Everywhere you look you see more subdivisions going up, and those people need to have good public safety,” stated DeWitt.
DeWitt has served as the sheriff of Berkeley County since 1995.
Moncks Corner mayor & current supervisor face runoff
The campaigning hasn’t quite ended yet for Moncks Corner Mayor Bill Peagler and Berkeley Co. Supervisor Dan Davis.
Because Davis, the incumbent, did not receive 50% of the vote, he and Peagler will face one another in a runoff on June 24th.
“I’m just grateful for the voters of Berkeley County for showing their confidence in me, voting for me,” said Davis. “We were expecting a runoff. We kind of figured there would be. It’s very unusual that there’s not a runoff when there’s a three-man race.”
During the primary, Davis received 44.32% of the vote. Peagler came in with 39.40% of the vote and Jerry Beckley, a banking executive with Heritage Trust, came in with 16.28%.
“The main things that I’ve been focused on are economic development. We have created thousands of jobs over the last several years,” stated Davis. “Also, our financial situation, we’ve gotten ourselves in a good financial situation.”
For the last decade, Peagler has served as the mayor of Moncks Corner but is hoping to take on the title of supervisor.
“Tonight, I got the support of Tim Callanan, Dennis Fish and Ken Gunn,” said Peagler. “Look at where we are I Moncks Corner. We haven’t raised taxes in ten years. We’ve expanded services. We’ve given people raises without having to
raise taxes. We gave the county eleven police cars. We operate differently.”
Peagler added his experience as Moncks Corner’s mayor makes him now the best candidate for the job title of supervisor.
As for Jerry Beckley, while he finished third in the primary—he says you may not have heard the last of him just yet.
“I’m finding very quickly that I like doing it (politics),” said Beckley. “I love meeting the people, and you get the opportunity to make some change.”
Beckley says he plans to announce which candidate he will support in the supervisor’s race sometime this week.
OTHER BERKELEY COUNTY RACES:
Berkeley County Clerk of Court
Mary Brown—54.51%
Leah Guerry Dupree—45.49%
Berkeley County Council District 4
Tommy Newell—59.03%
Jim Royce—22.24%
Aldo Napoli—18.73%
Berkeley County Council District 5
Dennis Fish (Incumbent)—54.64%
Bud Thames—45.37%
Berkeley County Council District 6
Jack Schurlknight (Incumbent)—45.10%
James Law—38.85%
Baron Thomas—16.05%
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