Beaufort News

Jenkins re-elected Jasper County Sheriff

By PATRICK DONOHUE - pdonohue@beaufortgazette.com

Gregory Jenkins will remain Jasper County's top lawman after soundly defeating petition candidate Keefe Blatchley in Tuesday's general election.

The Democrat won 66 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results from the S.C. Election Commission.

Jenkins is a longtime deputy who won a 2008 special election to fill the vacancy left by the death of Sheriff Ben Riley. He beat Sam Woodward for the Democratic nomination in a runoff in June.

Blatchley, the owner of Blatchley Brake and Tire in Ridgeland, was among nearly 200 candidates across the state booted from their primaries by an S.C. Supreme Court decision regarding paperwork issues. Unable to participate in the Democratic primary, Blatchley instead collected enough signatures -- at least 5 percent of the county's registered voters -- to get on the ballot as an independent petition candidate.

In other Jasper County races:

  • Democrat Buster Kleckley won 64 percent of the vote, defeating Republican Brenda Horton to become probate judge.
  • Democrat Margaret Bostick will remain clerk of court. She defeated Republican challenger Kim Thomas by winning 62 percent of the vote.
  • Democrat Tom Johnson won County Council's only at-large seat; fellow Democrat Barbara Clark was elected to represent Hardeeville.
  • Randy Horton was re-elected to the school board.

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    This story was originally published November 7, 2012 at 12:03 AM with the headline "Jenkins re-elected Jasper County Sheriff."

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