Beaufort County Council: Republicans sweep to victory in contested races
With 100% of the precincts counted in each district, Republicans won each contested race for the Beaufort County Council.
David Bartholomew, Tab Tabernik, Paula Brown and Tom Reitz will be the four new faces on the Beaufort County Council in January. Each cruised to victory, getting well over 60% of the vote.
Here are the results:
District 2
David Bartholomew (R) — 62.62%, 4,375 votes
Marilyn Harris (D) —37.36%, 2,610 votes
District 6
Tab Tabernik (R) - 68.01%, 5,363 votes
Alphonso Small Jr. (D) - 31.83%, 2,510 votes
District 8
Paula Brown (R) ran unopposed for the District 8 County Council seat. She will replace Chris Hervochon, who did not run for reelection.
District 11
Tom Reitz (R) - 65.13%, 5,778 votes
Cathy McClellan (D) - 34.84%, 3,091 votes
In District 2, Bartholomew is an attorney with Schiller and Hamilton in Beaufort.
In District 6, Tabernik is a retired educator and the chair of the Beaufort County Library Board.
“I’m very excited.” she said. “I think it’s a great opportunity to serve my community. And I really promise to be a voice for all the residents in District Six and always open to listen to anyone that has a concern or an idea.”
In District 11, Reitz is a business development manager at Earth Supplied Products.
In the June primary, two longtime council members were defeated — Paul Sommerville in District 2, and Stu Rodman in District 11. They’ll be joined by another longtime councilman, Brian Flewelling, and Hervochon as the four councilmen leaving their seats.
Flewelling did not seek reelction after redistricting put him and councilwoman Alice Howard in the same district. When first elected in 2008, said he would only run for re-elction once, unless he were in a leadership position.
“I find myself now without a leadership position on Council, facing the question of reelection,” Flewelling said in a statement to the Packet. “Keeping the rascals in check is not enough to cause me to break my promise. I am grateful and humbled by your support over the years.
The new council will have a few things on their plate in January:
▪ The council will continue to work with the Hilton Head Island Town Council, which will also see a new roster come January, to continue the 278 bridge improvement projects. Whether they will continue to butt heads or find better cooperation is anyone’s guess.
▪ The council will likely be dealing with the affordable housing issue often in the next term. Last month, the council approved the sale of 2 acres in a historic Beaufort neighborhood for $1 million, with the goal of establishing a mix of market-rate housing and less-expensive units.
▪ With the recent establishment of the regional housing trust fund, a collaboration between eight local governments, more affordable housing projects are sure to follow.
This story was originally published November 8, 2022 at 9:25 PM.
