Challenger upsets incumbent in this Beaufort Co. Republican primary race

Kraig Gordon has won the Republican primary for District 8’s seat on Beaufort County Council by only 64 votes, preliminary results from the South Carolina Election Commission show.

Preliminary results show Gordon received 1,188 out of 2,312 votes, accounting for about 51% of the vote. Gordon successfully challenged incumbent Paula Brown for the District 8 seat, Brown earned 1,124 votes, or 49%.

He will be the Republican candidate for the November election against Trey Judy, who won the Democratic primary Tuesday night. District 8 includes Hilton Head Plantation, Moss Creek and other parts of Bluffton north of Fording Island Road directly west of Hilton Head.

“First of all, I would like to thank all the people who supported me, campaigned for me, and voted for me. I am very grateful for your support,” Gordon said.

Gordon said he “fought the race against all odds,” referencing advertisements against him from a “dark money” Super PAC.

“The principles that I stand for are duty, honor, and country. I’m very proud of the service I’ve provided to Beaufort County over the last 12 years,” he said. “I really want to make things better for our county. I want to fix the current problems we have in county council. Our county council is not working together to solve our community’s problems, and I will do that when I’m elected to the council.”

Who is Kraig Gordon?

Gordon is the chair of the Beaufort County Transportation Committee, where he works on the ground to repave Hilton Head’s roads. He said Beaufort County’s most important issues are uncontrolled growth, failing and delayed infrastructure, affordability and declining public trust in county government.

“When residents see repeated project delays, developments approved without adequate infrastructure and a pattern of broken promises, it naturally leads to declining public trust,” he said.

Gordon said he thinks competing special interest groups and priorities dominate decision-making. Competent council members are needed to make county government effective, he said.

Many of Beaufort County’s problems are engineering problems, Gordon said, and his background in engineering makes him the right person to solve those problems.