3 incumbents retain Clarendon 1 school board seats
Tony Junious, Keith Bowman and Cindy Risher won the three open Clarendon School Board District 1 seats Tuesday night, according to unofficial results from the South Carolina Election Commission.
The district includes Calvary, Panola, Summerton 1, Summerton 2, Summerton 3 and Davis Station precincts and had three nonpartisan seats on the line. These were held by incumbents Junious, chairman of the board, Bowman and Risher, who have been in office since 2014.
Junious received 28.9 percent of the vote.
"It feels remarkable," he said. "I want to ensure our students get the best education there is; I'm excited, motivated and ready to get back to work. I want to make sure every dollar benefits school children and taxpayers, and I appreciate the confidence Clarendon School District 1 has in me."
Bowman received 25.9 percent of the vote.
"It feels good to have a second term," he said. "I've got more work to do, and I'm willing to do the work. I want the community more involved in what's going on.
"I want to thank my church family, Holy Temple of Jesus Christ in Summerton, Pastor Raymond Johnson for the prayer, support and vote, all my supporters, Republican and Democrat, The Item for the questionnaire [in the special Vote 2018 special section published on Thursday], and my wife and kids."
Risher received 19.5 percent of the vote.
"It's wonderful to feel that the people have that much trust in me to be elected; I'm honored to have earned the trust of Clarendon County 1 School District voters to serve a second term," she said. "I used the old-fashioned strategy of knocking on doors this time, and apparently it paid off. I want to work together with the rest of the board for fiscal responsibility, transparency, higher standards with staff and teachers and accountability."
Challengers included full-time pastor Bernard Richburg, who previously served on the Clarendon School District 1 Board of Trustees from 2004 to 2016, and Bessie E. Leonard, who was a Clarendon 1 board member from May 2014 to May 2018.
Leonard received 13.1 percent of the vote, while Richburg received 12.1 percent.
Queen Durant Washington dropped out of the race before the election.