Hilton Head mayoral race ends in runoff between top 2 candidates Orischak and Perry
When final votes for Hilton Head mayor were tallied early Wednesday, Thomas Cleary held the third-most of four candidates, despite withdrawing from the race in early October.
As a result, neither of the top two candidates for mayor — JoAnn Orischak and Alan Perry — had secured 50% of the vote, leading to a runoff election.
Perry drew 6,500 total votes, 41.34% of all votes cast, while Orischak held a slim lead with 6,957 or 44.24%, according to unofficial results from scvotes.gov.
Cleary attended Orischak’s watch party Tuesday evening, and told the Island Packet on Wednesday he endorses Orischak’s campaign.
“I voted for JoAnn and I support JoAnn,” Cleary said. “I think that she certainly most closely resembles my views on everything ... as it stands now, I’d like to see those votes provided to JoAnn.”
The 1,334 ballots cast for Cleary were key in the indecisive Election Day results, and capturing the support of Cleary’s voters could be crucial for Alan Perry and JoAnn Orischak’s success in the second-consecutive mayoral runoff vote, scheduled for Nov. 22.
Michael Santomauro, the third candidate in the race, got 859 votes. He also ran for mayor in 2018.
McCann considers an endorsement
Outgoing Mayor John McCann has yet to publicly declare for either candidate, but he told the Island Packet on Wednesday morning he’s considering the decision.
“I’m thinking about it,” McCann said. “I’m just waiting to look at one or two more things.”
Perry declined to say whether he was actively pursuing McCann’s endorsement, but said it would be welcome support ahead of the runoff.
“If Mayor McCann wants to put an endorsement out there, we would gladly accept it,” Perry said.
Orischak also said she hasn’t spoken with McCann regarding an endorsement.
Candidates prepare to run back tight race
Both Perry and Orischak said they’re already preparing for the two-week sprint. Orischak said she’s focused on reviewing which precincts she under-performed in and reaching those areas more effectively, but doesn’t plan significant messaging changes or “dirty” campaigning.
A veteran of the previous mayoral race, Perry received about 2,800 more votes Tuesday than he did in 2018’s six-way general election. He said his campaign is also reviewing voting numbers across precincts, especially among voters from Hilton Head Plantation.
“Hilton Head Plantation is one of the largest (voting areas),” Perry said. “Taking a look at HHP, how the votes varied there, and understanding that we’ve had a lot of new residents move into the area over the past couple of years, and that they may not have as much knowledge as some of the other voters.”
Hilton Head Plantation is home to roughly 10,000 islanders, according to the property owner’s association website.
Perry said he intends to increase messaging on specific policies that separate him from his opponent in the two-week gap, but wasn’t prepared to share which issues he’d focus on.
McCann, who won the mayoral seat in a runoff victory against Kim Likins in 2018, said he wasn’t surprised to see another runoff election this year.
“I think most people, when they’re in a race with three or four people, should expect a runoff,” McCann said. “There should be some kind of contingency plan people have for runoffs.”
The key that helped him win his runoff election, McCann said, is deceptively simple — remain consistent.
“You need a plan going into a runoff,” McCann said, “and the plan is to stay true to your beliefs along the way, and work hard as hell as you can for 14 days. Don’t change anything, because then it’s, ‘Why didn’t you say that before?’”
This story was originally published November 9, 2022 at 3:03 PM.
