School board makeup shifts with election of 2 members

The Beaufort County school board has two new representatives following Tuesday’s election, both of them critics of Superintendent Jeff Moss and staunch opponents of the 1 percent sales tax that failed on the same ballot.

The new members, according to preliminary election results, are Patricia Felton-Montgomery for Okatie’s District 6 seat and Christina Gwozdz for Bluffton’s District 9 seat. They each replace board members who aligned themselves with a majority that has backed Moss since his nepotism scandal last fall, a controversy that resulted in Moss admitting to wrongdoing and being fined by the S.C. Ethics Commission.

“Clearly my message resonated well with the voters,” Gwozdz said late Tuesday, as she watched the results come in with friends and family. “Time for a change.”

However, current member Michael Rivers, perhaps the body’s biggest critic of the superintendent, also won a separate race to represent District 121 in the S.C. House of Representatives, meaning he will leave the school board by January.

That leaves the school board with just a slight shift in power once the new members take office in February. There is currently a 7-4 majority for most votes recommended by Moss. For a brief time, before the special election to replace Rivers, the board will have an even 5-5 split.

Felton-Montgomery, a former educator with a doctorate degree in educational administration, beat incumbent Paul Roth for the Okatie seat, with 59.71 percent of the vote. Her win was hardly an upset — Roth frequently described himself as the biggest proponent of the educational sales tax, and he came under fire in June for calling one of his fellow board members a “hot chick.”

In the four-way race to represent District 9, Gwozdz, a local doctor and mother of three Bluffton High School graduates, won 43.4 percent of the vote. Laura Bush, the current representative and a 26-year veteran of the board, did not run for re-election.

Gwozdz bested challengers Bridgette Frazier (25.41 percent), Bill Fletcher (15.51 percent) and Chris Epps (15.45 percent).

The votes will be officially verified by the Beaufort County Board of Voter Registration and Elections this week.

Click or tap here for more results

Precinct results (contested races)

Data from SC Election Commission and is unofficial until certified

District 6

Map legend: Blue = Patricia Felton-Montgomery

 

Precinct	Stephen B Bacon	Patricia Felton-Montgomery	Paul Roth	Write-In	Total
CHECHESSEE 2	104	281	127	1	513
Bluffton 4A	51	176	56	1	284
Bluffton 2D	72	194	76	1	343
ROSE HILL	3	15	6	0	24
SUN CITY 1	66	266	80	1	413
SUN CITY 2	49	163	49	1	262
SUN CITY 3	88	247	69	1	405
SUN CITY 4	73	227	61	1	362
SUN CITY 5	65	226	60	0	351
SUN CITY 6	61	200	65	0	326
SUN CITY 7	63	154	62	0	279
SUN CITY 8	81	253	71	1	406
Absentee	554	1457	477	7	2,495
Emergency	0	0	0	0	0
Failsafe	3	7	1	1	12
Provisional	0	0	0	0	0
Total:	1,333	3,866	1,260	16	6,475

District 9

Map legend: Maroon = Christina Gwozdz, green = Bridgette Frazier, tan = tie

 

Precinct	Christopher Epps	Bill Fletcher	Bridgette Frazier	Christina Gwozdz	Write-In	Total
DAUFUSKIE	9	8	21	121	1	160
Bluffton 1A	79	97	198	198	0	572
Bluffton 1B	66	121	69	167	0	423
Bluffton 1C	65	30	43	163	1	302
Bluffton 1D	91	73	148	196	3	511
Bluffton 2A	60	67	78	125	0	330
Bluffton 2C	142	137	150	426	4	859
Bluffton 2E	31	42	160	110	1	344
Absentee	139	110	252	416	0	917
Emergency	0	0	0	0	0	0
Failsafe	3	3	8	3	0	17
Provisional	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total:	685	688	1,127	1,925	10	4,435

This story was originally published November 8, 2016 at 10:19 PM with the headline "School board makeup shifts with election of 2 members."