Bluffton’s Tabor Vaux will not seek Beaufort County Council re-election — here's why

A second Republican on Beaufort County Council says he will not seek re-election when his term expires.

Roberts “Tabor” Vaux Jr., who holds the District 9 seat representing Bluffton, Pritchardville and Daufuskie Island, told The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette on Monday that he would not be running in the upcoming June 12 Republican primary.

“I don’t know,” he said, when asked during a phone interview Monday when he’d decided not to run. “Maybe a couple of weeks ago.”

He made the decision to have more time to spend with his family, he said, and focus on his law practice.

“I’ve got a 2-year-old and a 3-and-a-half-year-old,” Vaux said, speaking of daughter Ella and son Roberts III, respectively. “I’m just trying to free up time for work and family,” he continued.

Last month, District 8 (Hilton Head Island/Bluffton) councilman Rick Caporale said he would not seek re-election. Greater Bluffton Republican Club treasurer Chris Hervochon announced his candidacy for the seat at about the same time.

Republican Mike Raymond — currently chairman of the Bluffton Township Fire District board that oversees services in much of the county’s southern half — announced Monday that he will run for Vaux’s seat.

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while,” Raymond said during a phone interview. “It depended on what Tabor Vaux decided to do. Tabor is a friend, he’s a neighbor, and I was not going to challenge him in a primary — he’s been doing a good job.”

“But as we were talking not too long ago, (Vaux) decided he was not going to run for re-election. ... I talked to folks in the district on and county council and got some thumbs-up on it, so I thought it was just a good time to pull the trigger,” Raymond continued.

Raymond, 66, previously served a four-year term on Bluffton Town Council and was a code enforcement officer for the town’s Department of of Environmental Protection.

He and wife Gina moved to the area in 2002 after he spent 20 years as a business operations consultant to Fortune 1000 companies.

Vaux began serving on the council in February 2013, according to the county’s website, when he took over a previous member’s unexpired term. He ran for the seat in 2014 and has since served on Natural Resources, Community Services, Governmental and Public Facilities committees.

Vaux is a Bluffton native and graduate of the Citadel and Charleston School of Law.

His wife, Erin, is a magistrate judge in Beaufort County.

The Republican primary is June 12.

This story was originally published February 26, 2018 at 3:15 PM with the headline "Bluffton’s Tabor Vaux will not seek Beaufort County Council re-election — here's why."