Sutton, incumbent McFee win Beaufort seats

Longtime friends Mike McFee and Nan Brown Sutton attended the same Beaufort kindergarten class. Now they will both be involved in shaping the city’s decisions for at least the next four years after grabbing the two available at-large seats on the Beaufort City Council Tuesday.

Sutton won the race with 2,781 votes, about 39 percent. The incumbent McFee picked up 2,430 votes, or 34 percent of those cast.

Former Beaufort Mayor David Taub, trying to get back to City Hall after more than 15 years, had 1,834votes, good for 25.84 percent.

What the result might mean for the future of Beaufort isn’t yet clear, but McFee and Sutton charted a similar campaign of wanting to continue shepherding a list of city redevelopment projects and a desire to serve their native city.

McFee moved around in a military family but has staked out Beaufort during his adult life. Sutton returned in 2000 after a stint acting in New York City and opened LuLu Burgess gift shop on Bay Street.

Sutton touted her business experience and years she said she learned the city government watching husband, Mike, on City Council.

Sutton said her husband taught her about public service and is the reason she ran. Mike Sutton is the chairman of the Redevelopment Commission, meaning husband and wife would serve on the same panel under its current makeup.

Taub had a well-funded campaign backed by some of Beaufort’s most well-known names. During a candidates forum in October, he carved out differences from his opponents in criticizing the city’s purchase of the vacant Beaufort Commerce Park and questioning the need to have spent money on a master plan for the city.

He had called for the repeal of an upcoming utility fee as an unnecessary and punitive tax and vowed to protect the current zoning of city neighborhoods.

But it might not have been enough to overcome the popularity of political first-timer Nan Sutton and a two-term incumbent in McFee. Both had earned the public support of City Councilman Stephen Murray, Sutton’s second cousin.

Sutton has created a local celebrity with weekly videos starring alter ego “Lulu” in promoting her downtown store, which opened a location in Charleston last year. Sutton said she struggled with promoting herself during her campaign.

But she had exposure from her regular online presence. And she inadvertently gained widespread recognition by posting a video tour of downtown Beaufort shortly after Hurricane Matthew, a Facebook post viewed hundreds of thousands of times.

She said she might use the storm as a reason to push to bury more utility lines in the city and wants to continue economic development initiatives she thinks could help retain Beaufort’s younger people.

“When I’m sitting here looking at the computer screen, and see I have a little bit more (votes), it’s flattering,” Sutton said. “I go ‘Wow, I guess people do know me.’

“I guess it all worked. What I did worked.”

Precinct results

Data from SC Election Commission and is unofficial until certified.

Map legend: Blue = Nan Brown Sutton, green = Mike McFee, tan = tie

 

Precinct	Mike McFee	Nan Brown Sutton	David M Taub	Write-In	Total
BEAUFORT 1	117	136	99	5	359
BEAUFORT 2	272	282	172	2	728
BEAUFORT 3	289	366	184	7	847
BURTON 1A	0	0	0	0	0
BURTON 1B	0	1	0	0	1
BURTON 2B	0	0	0	0	0
BURTON 2C	246	260	143	4	654
BURTON 3	20	23	12	2	58
Ladys Island 1A	0	0	0	0	0
Ladys Island 1B	25	48	24	0	97
Ladys Island 3B	15	12	9	0	36
Mossy Oaks 1A	235	286	211	3	735
Mossy Oaks 1B	296	352	203	6	860
Mossy Oaks 2	257	296	222	4	780
SEABROOK 1	0	0	0	0	0
SEABROOK 3	0	3	1	0	4
SHELDON 1	0	0	0	0	0
Absentee	645	692	544	9	1,890
Emergency	0	0	0	0	0
Failsafe	13	24	10	1	48
Provisional	0	0	0	0	0
Failsafe Provisional	0	0	0	0	0
Total:	2,430	2,781	1,834	43	7,097

This story was originally published November 8, 2016 at 9:32 PM with the headline "Sutton, incumbent McFee win Beaufort seats."