UPDATE: Crosby is Victorious for Seat 4

UPDATE:

Challenger Scott Crosby has defeated James Kennedy in the race for Mauldin City Council Seat 4 by a total of 31 votes, 984-953. Director of Voter Registration & Elections for Greenville County Conway Belangia said that the margin is outside the 1 percent (or 19 votes) that would have mandated a county-sanctioned recount.

Kennedy told Mauldin Patch he did not plan to ask for a recount. He would have had to provide proof of 31 examples of errors according to Belangia.

The election will be certified on Friday at noon.

The Seat 6 City Council run-off will be on November 22 at the same precinct locations as yesterday's vote.

Turnout for the races was a higher-than-expected 13.2 percent.

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While Mauldin’s , the races for the contested city council seats will last a little longer.

Seat 4 is headed for a recount and Seat 6 appears destined for a run-off election two weeks from now. The holder of Seat 2, Bob Cook, ran unopposed and was declared the winner in October.

The candidates for seat 4, and find themselves separated by less than 30 votes with nearly 1,900 having been cast, a margin slim enough to mandate an automatic recount. Kennedy, the incumbent, is trailing and indicated that he would request a recount were one not to come automatically.

Crosby, making his first foray into public office, said, ”Mr. Kennedy is an honorable man and he’s going to do what he thinks is right.”

Crosby believes a multitude of factors worked in his favor to put him on the precipice of victory, both locally and nationally. Crosby said he believed specifically the local effect of the national mood towards incumbents.

“I think there was sentiment against sitting candidates and that benefited me,” he said.

The race for Seat 6 was the only one that drew three candidates. Larry Goodson earned 48.6 percent of the vote, incumbent earned 39.9 percent and Nantambu Calhoun picked up 11.5 percent. Goodson and Reynolds will now face each other in a run-off.

Goodson said he does not plan on changing his strategy.

“The people I’ve talked to are concerned about the ($45) trash fee and that’s what I’m going to continue to talk to people about,” Goodson said.

Reynolds expects to stay the course as well.

“It’s easy to take a snapshot of a single issue and say 'this is a problem,'” Reynolds said. “I talk to people about my whole plan and emphasize the big picture.”

Reynolds, along with now-ousted Mayor Don Godbey, was targeted as being responsible for passing the ordinance that put the trash fee into effect. The ordinance came under renewed scrutiny in the last week of the campaign when it was leaked that the city might have a budget surplus. Political signs also cropped up across town in the tail end of the race that blamed Godbey and Reynolds for the fee.

“I think the timing (of the negative campaigning) and the attempt to incite emotion was very questionable,” Reynolds said.

Goodson and Reynolds will meet in run-off election on Nov. 22.