All 4 winners in Jasper County’s local elections were black men. Why that matters in 2020
History was made in Jasper County on Tuesday, and it was fueled by a desire for change.
Four white male incumbents — the sheriff, coroner, and two county council members — were ousted by four black male challengers in a time when the world is calling for an end to systematic racism and police brutality.
Jasper County voters’ message was heard loud and clear at the polls as they paved the way for the county to have what is believed to be its first-ever African American coroner and an African American leading the county’s largest law enforcement agency.
If all the Democrats wins in November’s general election, the county will have a majority African American county council.
For sheriff’s race winner Donald Hipp, coroner’s race winner Willie Patrick Aiken III, and county council Pocotaligo Township seat winner Alvin Abby Adkins, the path to victory is seemingly clear since no Republicans have filed for those positions. That means their names will likely be the only ones on the ballot.
Council candidate Samuel Gregory will face Republican John Kemp.
“I was really surprised by the results with all four (challengers) being elected,” Jasper County Democratic Party Chairman Arthur Murphy said. “That’s saying some people were dissatisfied in Jasper County.”
Murphy, who has been chairman off and on since 1995, said he’s never seen an outcome like Tuesday night’s before.
“I think the candidates were elected by black and white voters, and it wasn’t just black support,” Murphy said. “They were elected by the people and if you’re elected, you have to do what is right by the people who put you there. I think when that happens, you’ll remain in office regardless of what color you are.”
Jasper County has a population of just more than 30,000 people with a racial makeup that is 43% white, 42% black, and 13% Hispanic or Latino, according to a July 2019 estimate from the U.S. Census Bureau.
On Tuesday, voter turnout was about 33% with 6,832 ballots cast.
Of those ballots, 2,178 were cast absentee (1,132 in-person absentee and 1,046 by mail).
In person ballots totaled 4,654, according to the Jasper County Board of Elections and Registration Commission.
Almost 5,500 ballots were cast in the Democratic primary and just more than 1,040 were submitted in the Repbulican contest.
This year’s turnout showed a slight increase from the 27% who voted in the 2016 primary for the same races, which had 4,627 ballots cast and about 3,000 less registered voters.
‘Speaking up for Jasper County’
The election for sheriff and for coroner gained the most attention among voters.
Despite Sheriff Chris Malphrus finishing his first term with impressive statistics - homicide rates were down by 42%; burglary rates dropped by 33%; and the total number of narcotics arrests increased by 2,147% - Hipp won the election by 700 votes.
Hipp is no stranger to the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office.
Before joining the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office in 2017 after losing in the general election to Malphrus, he spent his first 25 years in law enforcement rising through the ranks at the very department he’ll now be leading.
Hipp said with everything going on in the world, including both the coronavirus pandemic and the protests for racial equality and against police brutality, Jasper County needed a change.
“I truly believe (the job of sheriff) is just getting out no matter what nationality you are - African American, Hispanic, Caucasian - and bonding with the people of the community and being able to relate to them,” Hipp said. “If you bridge that gap, it will work well and give a voice to the people.”
He said he has a number of new ideas and ambitions and is looking forward to working hard with all his officers to better the county.
He also thankful for the voters, whether they voted for him or not.
“The citizens of Jasper County are speaking up for Jasper County,” he said. “I want to tell them to look for a big change ... we’re going to restore confidence.”
A phone call and text message to Malphrus seeking comment Wednesday afternoon were not returned.
‘Incumbents wrote their own stories’
Although the coroner’s race had three candidates, Aiken won 52.32% of the votes, ending Martin Sauls III’s 40 years in the position and making Aiken what is believed to be the first African American to serve as the county’s coroner.
On Wednesday afternoon, Aiken said he was still overwhelmed by the support he received and was working to process his victory.
For him, his win “shows the direction that the county is going in” and “that change is necessary no matter the color or anything.”
The election came just weeks after George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died on May 25 in police custody after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. The death sparked activism, rallies and protests across the globe.
But despite that, Aiken believes the election outcome would have been the same.
“George Floyd awoke people to come to the polls, but I believe they would have voted for the right candidates regardless,” Aiken said. “I think the incumbents wrote their own stories.”
He said he hopes to give the Coroner’s Office “more meaning” and help the community better understand what the coroner does.
After more than four decades as an elected county official, Sauls is not bitter about his loss.
“I’ve had 45 good years as an elected official in this county and I mean they have all been good and there’s no way I could look back on that and feel anything other than gratitude and closeness to the people I have served,” Sauls said Wednesday.
He said throughout all of the elections he’s been in, there have been “several times where incumbents had targets on them and this certainly was one of those times and there were a lot of factors that contributed to” his loss, but “that happens. It’s politics.”
“I am just grateful to the people of Jasper County,” he said.
Looking ahead
Although the general election is in November, Tuesday’s primary decided a majority of the county’s 2020 contests.
Eleven of the 12 candidates who filed for this year’s open positions ran as Democrats.
Kemp is the only Republican candidate and will face Democratic primary winner Gregory for the at-large county council seat.
Hipp, Aiken, and county council winner Adkins all won the Democratic primary Tuesday and should be unopposed come November.
Democrat Margaret Bostick and Democrat Barbara B. Clark are also both unopposed incumbents for the clerk of court and Hardeeville Township seat on county council respectively.
This story was originally published June 10, 2020 at 3:37 PM.
