Live updates: Night of incumbent wins in Beaufort County, state house. Penny tax defeated

1:10 a.m. - Hager defeats Williams for SC House seat

With 11,223 votes or 53.5%, Republican incumbent Bill Hager defeated Democratic challenger Audrey Hopkins-Williams for the District 122 seat in the South Carolina House of Representatives. Hopkins-Williams trailed behind with 9,708 votes or 46.3%.

12:55 a.m. - Matthews reelected to SC Senate

Democratic incumbent Margie Bright Matthews, representing South Carolina’s 45rd senatorial district, was reelected in an unopposed race. She received 31,405 votes or 97.7% of the electorate throughout Allendale, Beaufort, Charleston, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper counties.

12:40 a.m. - Herbkersman returning to SC House

Republican incumbent Bill Herbkersman has won reelection, defeating Democratic newcomer Charity Owens in the race for South Carolina’s District 118, which includes central and western Bluffton, Sun City and parts of Okatie.

11:50 p.m. - Incumbents reelected to SC House

Just after 11 p.m., with all precincts reporting, Jeff Bradley was reelected to represent District 123 in the South Carolina House of Representatives, receiving 13,567 votes or 61.29%, according to unofficial results. The Republican incumbent defeated Lisette Cifaldi, who received 8,561 votes or 38.6%. District 123 represents residents living on Hilton Head and Daufuskie islands and Levy.

Weston Newton, the Republican incumbent, secured his seat in the South Carolina House of Representatives as the District 120 representative. He has served in the position since 2013. With all precincts reporting in Beaufort and Jasper Counties, Newton secured 14,068 votes or 67.9%, defeating Kate Creech, a first-time candidate who received 6,638 votes or 32%, according to the unofficial tally.

11:30 p.m. - 3 incumbents return: Cunningham wins county council seat, rejoining Dawson and Glover on unchanged board

Republican incumbent Logan Cunningham won reelection in Beaufort County’s District 7, defeating Democratic challenger Dr. Sarah McCarty. With all 13 precincts counted by 11:07 p.m., Cunningham won 6,093 votes or 67.2% of the unofficial tally. Cunningham’s win paired with District 1’s Gerald Dawson and District 3’s York Glover’s victory Tuesday night means the county council makeup will remain unchanged for the next session.

11:28 p.m. - Penny tax defeated by margin of 11%

In one of the most watched races in Beaufort County, voters declined to approve the so-called Penny Tax that would have raised nearly a billion dollars for roads, bridges and infrastructure projects. What’s next for solving the infrastructure problem may be property tax increases as suggested by members of council or other solutions.

11:20 p.m. - Stone elected solicitor for 5th term

Duffie Stone will serve his fifth term as 14th Circuit Solicitor after earning 100,282 votes across the Lowcountry, representing 98.8% of voters. He ran unopposed.

The 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office is the chief prosecuting agency for Allendale, Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper counties.

11:10 p.m. - Beaufort County elects coroner, clerk of court

With all precincts reporting, Beaufort County voters elected Deborah Ann Youmans for coroner and incumbent Jerri Roseneau for clerk of court. Both candidates ran unopposed.

Roseneau received 71,498 votes or 99.2% of the electorate, while Youmans earned 71,907 votes or 99.3%, according to unofficial election results.

11 p.m. - Hilton Head Town Council results

Alex Brown, Ward 1, Steve DeSimone, Ward 3, and Melinda Tunner, Ward 6, secured their seats on the Hilton Head Town Council around 10:35 p.m., with 100% of precincts reporting.

Brown, the Ward 1 incumbent, secured 1,382 votes, 68.4%, topping Daniel Anthony, who received 629 votes, 31.1%, according to the unofficial vote. DeSimone, who served on the town council in the early 2000s, received 2,014 votes, 57.9%, defeating opponent Amy Fee, who received 1,431, 41.1%. Tunner, who received 1,993 votes, 54.5%, defeated Paige Cope, who received 455 votes, 12.4%, and Rex Garniewicz, who received 1,173 votes, 32.1%.

10:40 p.m. - Beaufort County Council incumbent Dawson wins

Democratic incumbent Gerald Dawson won reelection in Beaufort County’s District 1, defeating Republican challenger Adam Biery and a write-in candidate. With all 14 precincts counted by 9:58 p.m., Dawson won 3,606 votes or 57.8% of the unofficial tally.

10:30 p.m. - Malphrus unseats Hipp for Jasper County Sheriff

Former Jasper County Sheriff Chris Malphrus defeated current Sheriff Donald Hipp in the pair’s third straight matchup for the position, earning 9,175 votes or 51.3%. Hipp, who ran as a Democrat, received 8,692 votes or 48.6%, according to unofficial election results.

10:25 p.m. - Erickson, Rivers win SC House seats

Republican state Rep. Shannon Erickson of Beaufort has defeated Democrat Melinda Henrickson of Lady’s Island in the race for House Disrict 124, which includes most of Beaufort and the town of Port Royal, with 100% of the precincts reporting. Erickson had 12,637 votes or 64.2%. Henrickson had 7,010 votes or 35.6%.

In House District 121, which includes much of St. Helena Island and Fripp Island, incumbent Democrat Michael Rivers has defeated Republican Shelley Gay Yuhas, according to unofficial results, with 100% of the precincts reporting. Rivers had 6002 votes or 58.8% and Gay Yuhasa had 4,187 votes or 35.6%.

10:20 p.m. - Victories in Beaufort mayoral race, city council

In the Beaufort mayoral race, incumbent Mayor Phil Cromer has edged challenger Josh Scallate, a City Council member, by a margin of 3,085 to 2,269, or 57.1% to 42%, with 100% of the precincts reporting.

In the four-person race for two seats on the Beaufort City Council, incumbents Mitch Mitchell and Neil Lipsitz were reelected. Mitchell had the most votes with 2,554 or 28.7% and Lipsitz was second with 2,314 votes or 26%. Julie Crenshaw was third with 2,066 votes or 23.2% and Josh Gibson finished fourth with 1,893 votes or 21.3%.

10:15 p.m. - York Glover reelected to county council

York Glover, the Democrat incumbent for District 3 of Beaufort County Council, was reelected with 96.2% of the unofficial vote Tuesday night. He ran unopposed.

10 p.m. - Beaufort County election workers ‘play catch-up’

Marie Smalls, who heads the Beaufort County elections office, said at 10 p.m. that the office is still awaiting results from Bluffton and Hilton Head.

The office just finished counting about 5,000 absentee ballots.

Vote counting was delayed when a machine that counts absentee ballots jammed earlier in the evening and the county had to call in support. That delayed the tabulating of the first set of ballots. “Now we’re trying to play catch-up,” she said.

“I was pushing for 11 o clock,” Smalls said of having all the votes counted, “but that’s not going to happen. But we will do it as quickly as we can.”

Votes that were cast during the early voting period have already been posted.

9:33 p.m. - AP calls U.S. House District 1 for Mace

With 58% of the vote, incumbent Republican Nancy Mace defeated Michael Moore for the U.S. House District 1 seat, according to the Associated Press.

District 1 serves Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester and Jasper counties.

7 p.m. - Beaufort County results delayed

Beaufort County’s election results are experiencing a slight delay due to technical issues with one of the tabulators that is down, Marie Smalls, the director of the county’s board of voter registration and elections, said around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. Polls close at 7 p.m., and results typically begin trickling in shortly after.

The delay is further exacerbated by the need to await results from Daufuskie Island, which typically requires an additional hour to process due to the ballots arriving by ferry, she added.

While the results are taking longer to upload, Smalls said she aims to have the final tallies for the election completed before midnight.

- Isabella Douglas, idouglas@islandpacket.com

Latest results from Beaufort County’s races

The Beaufort County Board of Elections provides this link to readers who want to follow the results from the state’s database.

This story was originally published November 5, 2024 at 7:00 PM with the headline "Live updates: Night of incumbent wins in Beaufort County, state house. Penny tax defeated."