Murray, Pinckney win seats on Yemassee Town Council. Here’s how the town voted
Political newcomers David Paul Murray and Stacy Pinckney will join Yemassee Town Council later this month after winning the most votes in a six-person race in Tuesday’s election, according to unofficial results.
With all precincts reporting, Mayor Colin Moore — the only candidate on the ballot in the mayoral race — received 155 votes, while 104 write-in votes were reported. Most of those were likely for write-in candidate Daniel Anderson, who began publicly campaigning recently.
Murray, who received 26% of the votes, and Pinckney, who won about 24%, will replace Michelle Hagan and Charlie Simmons, neither of whom sought reelection.
The new council members said they’re grateful for voters and excited to work together.
Murray, 33, has been in the area all his life, living in town the past six years. In addition to owning a photography business, he’s worked full time for his family’s home-repair business for the past 16 years.
Murray said one of his biggest priorities would be bringing new businesses into town, including a grocery store. He also said beautifying the town and making an effort to communicate with citizens are important. He proposes to create a town newsletter.
This was his second time running for council. He campaigned as a write-in candidate two years ago.
“It’s very exciting,” Murray said Tuesday night. “All the groundwork I did in reaching out to people person-to-person made a difference, and I think that’s what people wanted.”
He said he’s looking forward to working with the council and mayor. He already has a working relationship with some, he said, because of his involvement in the community and because he previously worked in maintenance for the town.
Pinckney, 53, has lived in Yemassee the past 15 years. She grew up in Walterboro and previously lived in the Beaufort and Port Royal areas. She’s an office assistant for a florist in Walterboro but has always worked in administration, including 10 years in a school system.
She said the beautification of Yemassee was her main priority, making the town appealing to people passing through. She also wants to “find things to do” with the youth and the elderly and bring more businesses into town.
“I’m so grateful for the people who trusted me,” Pinckney said. “I have so much I can do to help with the town.”
She said one of the first priorities is to work as a team, setting an agenda for tasks the council wants to accomplish in the next calendar year.
A total of 251 ballots were cast in person Tuesday at the Yemassee Municipal Complex, which is where all Hampton County town residents voted. Eighteen people cast absentee ballots in Hampton County. By 9:30 p.m. both Beaufort County precincts where Yemassee residents also voted released results; Sheldon 1 reported only three additional votes for mayor and five votes for council and Sheldon 2 added five and eight votes in each race respectively.
What happens next?
After being sworn in at the Nov. 9 council meeting, the Murray and Pinckney will serve on the five-person council alongside Moore and council members Peggy Bing-O’Banner and Alfred Washington.
The election comes at a time Yemassee is setting a fast pace for growth by major annexations. It’s trying to balance growth and development responsibly, but is also facing calls for beautification of older areas and conservation in other areas, such as along the ACE Basin.
With the all precincts reporting at 9:30 p.m., here are unofficial town council election results:
David Paul Murray - 124 votes (26.27%)
Stacy Pinckney - 113 votes (23.94%)
Robert “Bobby” Moore - 93 votes (19.70%)
Trena Ellis - 87 votes (18.43%)
Natasha N. Green - 30 votes (6.36%)
Darrell Russell - 21 votes (4.45%)
Write-in - 4 votes (0.85%)
This story was originally published November 2, 2021 at 8:22 PM.
