Today is Election Day in Lamar, South Carolina, and in several other towns in the region.  We have a competitive mayoral race, and I am up for reelection for the Council seat I currently hold.  Another Councilmember is running for reelection for her seat, but neither of us have any officially filed competition.

There’s also an election in Society Hill with seven candidates running—three for mayor and four for council seats.  I’m particularly interested in that race because of a homesteading-related issue at the center of it, with one candidate running largely to fight an ordinance limiting the number of animals he is allowed to keep on his property inside city limits.  Hartsville, home to the world headquarters of Sonoco, has five candidates running for mayor.

At the time of writing, I can’t find any information online about elections in Florence, South Carolina, a testament to the quality of reporting of the local newspaper there (but big kudos to the Darlington News & Press for at least running some articles about the different races and forums in Darlington County).  The South Carolina Election Commission website does have a page for local election results, which should make finding results much easier (Lamar doesn’t seem to be on there, but I’ll be walking down to Town Hall shortly after 7 PM EST to check the final vote totals after polls close).

Otherwise, election results for these small town elections can be difficult to find, so I’ll post updates as I find out results.

Nationally, the race to watch is the Virginia gubernatorial race.  Virginia seemed to be lost to the ages for Republicans, but the Republican candidate there is holding a razor-thin lead in polling at the time of writing.  That should be an interesting one to watch play out, assuming the whole game isn’t rigged.

Regardless, I hope everyone will go out and vote in your local elections today, if your locality is having one.

Happy Voting!

—TPP