Sheriff, county council races headline local contests

COUNTY — With so much attention on the circus surrounding this year’s presidential contest, it’s easy to forget about the local and state offices that are up for election this year as well.

Pickens County voters will be casting their ballots in many contested races at the local level this year.

Filing will close today, March 30, at noon.

All candidates listed have filed to run as Republican candidates, unless otherwise noted. The Pickens County Republican primary is set for June 14, while the general election is scheduled for Nov. 8.

Pickens County sheriff Rick Clark has filed for re-election. He’ll face former assistant sheriff Tim Morgan, who he defeated in 2012 to replace longtime sheriff David Stone.

Several county council districts are up for election this year.

Incumbent councilman Randy Crenshaw is seeking another term representing District 3. He will face opposition from Jimmy Davis and Alex Saitta.

Roy Costner is running for county council District 4. As of press time Tuesday, incumbent Neil Smith had not filed for re-election.

Chris Bowers, Robert Sams and Jeffrey Willis have filed for the District 5 county council seat. As of press time, incumbent Jennifer Willis had not filed for re-election.

Carl Hudson and Daniel Lee are seeking the District 6 county council seat. As of press time, incumbent Tom Ponder had not filed for re-election.

The district 1 and 2 seats are not up for election this cycle.

Three people have filed to challenge for the State Senate District 2 seat long held by incumbent Larry Martin. Don Joslyn, Allen Quinn and Rex Rice will face Martin.

Incumbent Gary Clary will face Libertarian candidate Travis McCurry in the race for the State House of Representatives District 3 seat.

Rep. Davey Hiott is seeking re-election to the State House of Representatives District 4 seat. He’ll face opposition from Libertarian candidate Joey Lum.

Rick Tate is seeking to unseat Rep. Neal Collins for the State House of Representatives District 5 seat. Collins has filed for re-election.

Both U.S. Representative Jeff Duncan and U.S. Senator Tim Scott face opposition in this year’s race. Democrat Hosea Cleveland of Seneca will run against Duncan for the District 3 seat. Bill Bledsoe of Spartanburg seeks to unseat Scott for the District 2 seat. According to county election records, Bledsoe has filed as both a Constitution Party and Libertarian Party candidate. Democrat Thomas Dixon of North Charleston is also running against Scott.

Sen. Thomas Alexander had no opposition for his District 1 seat as of press time. Rep. Joshua Putnam faced no opposition for his District 10 seat as of press time.

Several elected officials at the county level were also running unopposed as of press time:

Brent Suddeth is running for re-election as county auditor, Kandy Kelley seeks re-election as county coroner, Pat Welborn is running for re-election as county clerk of court, and Dale Looper seeks another term as county treasurer.