Local Election News

• Santorum says faith is his guide
  WASHINGTON -- For former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, it always has been about faith.

• Ron Paul: National town crier for an exotic mix of views
  WASHINGTON -- Rep. Ron Paul remembers the day he was transformed from a mild-mannered physician into the feisty political Nostradamus of the Republican Party.

• Newt Gingrich: Complicated man, complicated race
  WASHINGTON -- Just who is Newt Gingrich anyway?

• Romney's changes of heart worry conservatives
  WASHINGTON -- Mitt Romney: flexible pragmatist, or a politically soulless flip-flopper too eager to please?

• Beaufort County, two others buck statewide trend with nod to Romney
  Despite winning the state and several neighboring counties, Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich did not carry Beaufort County in Saturday's Republican primary.

• 2012 PRIMARY: Where to vote in Southern Beaufort County
  With South Carolina's GOP presidential primary just a day away, Beaufort County election employees are making final preparations.

• 2012 PRIMARY: Where to vote in Northern Beaufort County
  With South Carolina's GOP presidential primary near, Beaufort County is making final preparations. Voting machines, 162 in all, are being delivered to polling places throughout the county, and about 300 clerks and poll workers are scheduled to man them Saturday. Nine candidates will appear on the ballot, including erstwhile contenders Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, Gary Johnson and Rick Perry. Here's what you need to know:

• On eve of primary, special episodes of "Washington Week" and "Need to Know" will air
  On the eve of South Carolina's Republican primary, viewers can tune in to a special edition of "Washington Week" produced at South Carolina ETV's studios in Columbia. The episode airs Friday, Jan. 20 at 8 p.m. and 1 a.m. on ETV, and again Monday, Jan. 23 at 5:30 p.m. on ETV World.

• Rick Perry campaign swings through Beaufort, Bluffton
  If Rick Perry has his way, the United States of America will look a lot more like Texas.

• Counties fighting the clock in suit against S.C. primary
  The S.C. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Monday on a lawsuit brought by four counties, including Beaufort County, that contend they can't be forced to conduct or pay for the GOP's upcoming presidential primary.

• GOP to hold presidential straw poll
  A GOP presidential straw poll, co-sponsored by the College Republicans and tea parties on Hilton Head Island, and in Beaufort and Bluffton, will be from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. State Sen. Tom Davis will speak at the event in Room 159 of the Hargray Building at the University of South Carolina Beaufort campus in Bluffton. Information: Call Kate Keep at 843-816-1806, go to www.teapartyhhi.org or follow Hilton Head Island TEA Party on Facebook.

• In Bluffton, challengers Lavery, Huffman oust incumbents Hamilton, Mitchell
  Challengers Ted Huffman and Karen Lavery ousted incumbents Fred Hamilton and Allyne Mitchell for two Bluffton Town Council seats Tuesday, according to unofficial results posted by the Beaufort County Board of Voter Registration and Elections.

• 2 incumbents face 2 challengers in today's Bluffton council elections
  Voters will choose from among four candidates today to fill two nonpartisan, at-large seats on the Bluffton Town Council.

• Hamilton, Lavery our choices for council
  The town of Bluffton faces challenges that require commitment, backbone and vision.

• Bluffton Town Council candidates pledge support for May River, disagree on affordable housing
  The four candidates for two at-large Bluffton Town Council seats pledged to restore the May River while disagreeing on an affordable housing project at a forum Wednesday night at Town Hall.

• Bluffton candidate forum will air on The County Channel
  Residents who miss Wednesday's Bluffton Town Council candidates' forum can watch it on the County Channel.

• Bluffton council candidates push for support, higher turnout
  The four candidates for two Bluffton Town Council seats hope to reverse a trend of low voter turnout in this year's election.

• Candidates, groups work to up turnout in Bluffton elections
  Just days before an Oct. 10 deadline for voters to register for Bluffton municipal elections in November, candidates and nonpartisan groups alike are working to increase turnout at the polls in an off-cycle election year.

• Audit finds minor anomalies in Beaufort County's 2010 election data
  An audit of the 2010 election released late last month by the S.C. League of Women Voters shows a few irregularities in data from Beaufort County's voting machines.

• Bluffton sets up nonprofit to guide start-up incubator
  A new nonprofit created by Bluffton Town Council on Tuesday will oversee an incubator for start-up technology companies.