Sumter school board Area 8 will be runoff between Leventis, Ray

The Sumter school board Area 8 race will be headed to a runoff in two weeks between incumbent Phil Leventis and challenger Sherril Ray.  

In a three-way race, Leventis finished well ahead of Ray, but he missed the 50% threshold to avoid a runoff. He took 47.87% of the vote to Ray’s 31.93%. Political newcomer and challenger Philip Good placed third with 19.05% of the total vote. 

The Area 8 runoff will occur on Tuesday, Nov. 17, and it appears to be the lone runoff in Sumter County after Tuesday’s general election. 

Area 8 is mostly within the City of Sumter limits to include western and northern portions of the city. Roughly half of the western suburbs in the city are in Area 8. Major roadways include Wilson Hall Road, Loring Mill Road, Patriot Parkway and others.