Share

Tecklenburg new mayor of Charleston

All registered voters who live within the Charleston or Mount Pleasant limits may vote in their city, even if they stayed home on November 3.

Advertisement

Voters in Charleston went to the polls on Tuesday to choose the first new mayor in 40 years for the historic SC city, which is still coping with the massacre of nine black people this past summer at one of its oldest churches.

Tecklenburg’s challenger, state Rep. Leon Stavrinakis, received 42 percent of votes in the runoff election.

Deerin supporters played a huge role Tuesday night, according to an analysis by ABC News 4.

All four contests are runoff races, unfinished business from the Lowcountry’s November 3 municipal elections. He stressed the importance of tourism management downtown, acknowledged that West Ashley has been ignored for too long when it comes to the city’s improvement efforts, and called for a peace treaty with the town of James Island.

Stavrinakis beat Tecklenburg in West Ashley by almost 800 votes two weeks ago and he grew his total by another 615 votes Tuesday night (5,339 total).

Tecklenburg campaigned on a plan (.pdf) that focused on making streets safer, schools stronger, commutes faster, development policies wiser and city services smarter. “When we started this journey, the decision to run and the race we ran was all about the place we love, Charleston”.

“I’ve worked with him a lot”. Stavrinakis has served on the Charleston County Council and represented the western suburbs in the state House of Representatives since 2007. “And as I stand here today, nothing about that has changed”. He also thanked his supporters and his family for their time during his campaign.

Advertisement

Riley did not endorse a candidate.

Charleston Mayor Joe Riley applauds during funeral services for the Reverend Clementa Pinckney in Charleston South Carolina