Covert wins Beaufort County Council race narrowly; Bensch doesn’t concede

A shakeup is likely coming to the Beaufort County Council.

Bluffton businessman Mike Covert narrowly defeated incumbent Councilwoman Cynthia Bensch in Tuesday’s Republican primary election for the council’s District 7 seat, winning nearly 53 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results reported Tuesday evening by the Beaufort County Board of Elections.

But Bensch, who won just over 47 percent of the vote, isn’t conceding yet.

She said Tuesday night that she will wait until absentee ballots are counted and the election results are officially certified before accepting defeat.

There is no Democratic challenger in November’s general election, so if Tuesday’s decision holds, it all but guarantees Covert will take office in January.

Covert said he is “ecstatic” about the result Tuesday night and he is not waiting to start getting to work.

He said he is going to begin making good on a campaign promise “to unify the county right away.”

“I’m going to go sit down with folks on the other side of (the Broad River) and start mending fences,” he said. “There’s no sense in waiting.”

He said he will focus on healing “old wounds” so people “are able to start talking to one another even if they disagree politically.”

Covert, owner of local heating and air conditioning service company Covert Aire, was supported by Bluffton Mayor Lisa Sulka and various local business organizations.

Bensch, who was elected to the County Council in 2012, ran an unsuccessful campaign for Bluffton’s mayoral seat last year. She was defeated by the incumbent Sulka, who won nearly 79 percent of the vote in that race.

She said Tuesday night that she wasn’t disappointed with the election results because “there are a lot of absentee votes still out there.”

Fewer than 50 votes separated the candidates as of 10 p.m. Tuesday, according to the unofficial tally.

Those votes will be counted and certified over the next day or two.

Regardless of the outcome, Bensch said she is proud of her four years on the County Council.

“I feel like I’ve made good on everything I pledged to do when I ran the first time,” she said.

Other races

These are unofficial results reported by the Beaufort County Board of Elections as of 10 p.m. Tuesday

▪ Beaufort County Council, District 3 (Democrat)

York Glover (53 percent) defeated William Smith (47 percent).

Glover will face the sole Republican candidate Wyman Haigler in the general election.

▪ S.C. House of Representatives, District 121 (Democrat)

Michael Rivers (59 percent) defeated Grahame Grey Holmes (41 percent).

Rivers will face the sole Republican candidate James Broderick in the general election.

▪ S.C. House of Representatives, District 122 (Democrat)

Incumbent Bill Bowers (42 percent) defeated Curtis Brantley (26 percent), John Polk (6 percent), and Shedron Williams (26 percent).

This story was originally published June 14, 2016 at 10:08 PM with the headline "Covert wins Beaufort County Council race narrowly; Bensch doesn’t concede."