Hello REALTORS®,
The elections wrapped up yesterday and in a surprise to me, we know most of the results as I write this article on the morning after the elections. First, Click this link to see the Election Results, and see below for notable election results and the elections that haven’t been decided yet.
Click here for the Election Results.
Undecided
I thought for sure that we would not know the results of the Presidency for at least a day, but we know! Former President Donald Trump will be the 47th President of the United States. As expected, he won South Carolina with 58.2% of the vote and he is projected to win slightly more than 300 electoral college votes. President Trump also is projected to win the popular vote by almost 5 million votes, receiving 71.3 million votes out of about 140 million votes cast nationwide.
How the President is Elected
Election of the President is decided by the states. Each state is allocated electoral votes in the same amount as the number of members they have in Congress. For example, South Carolina gets 9 electoral votes, 1 for each of the 7 members of the US House, and 2 for its 2 US Senators.
The winner needs 270 out of 538 Electoral College Votes. The Electoral College meets in December to cast the votes of the states, and a joint session of Congress certifies the results in January. Nearly all media outlets have projected that President Trump won the election.
Runoff Elections
One local election will need to be decided in a runoff on November 19 because no candidate received a plurality of the vote.
Clemson City Council:
Six candidates sought three available seats on Clemson City Council. No candidate received enough votes to win outright, so a runoff election will be held November 19. We’ll issue a Voter Guide for that election next week, but at this writing we think the following candidates advanced to the runoff:
- Councilman Bob Brookover
- Alma Evans
- Adam Jones
- Windsor Sherrill
The top three will be seated on Clemson City Council in December.
Other notable election races
County council races were mostly uncontested, but Oconee County didn’t get that memo. Competing conservative groups in Oconee County promoted write in candidates for many seats, including a write-in campaign for Rep. Bill Sandifer, who lost his bid for reelection in the primary. In the end, none of the write in campaigns were successful and all the winning candidates were listed on the ballot.
There will be a significant change on Anderson School District 5 board of trustees. Of the 5 incumbents seeking reelection, 2 were defeated: John Griffith in Area 7 and Julie Usherwood in Area 1. And in Anderson School District 1, incumbent Moochie Merritt was defeated.
Check the Election Results for the details.
Ballot Questions
There were four ballot questions in the Western Upstate. The statewide question to amend the SC Constitution was overwhelmingly approved. The change will require registered voters to be citizens of the US and SC. That requirement was already in state law, but now it will be in our state’s Constitution.
Anderson County voters had two questions related to a 1 cent increase in the sales tax to pay for road improvements. The sales tax increase failed 52.8% to 47.2%, but a related question of issuing $15 million in general obligation bonds to pay for road improvements passed 50.3% to 49.7%.
And voters in the Corinth-Shiloh fire service area of Oconee County approved creating a special purpose fire district for their area. That vote was 60.2% to 39.8%. Oconee County Council will appoint an interim board for the district and hold a special election to create a permanent board. That board will govern the district and set its millage rate, which cannot exceed 25 mills.
Support RPAC
Thank you, Realtors, for voting! Elections are an important way that your association represents you and helps make a strong market for real estate. Through RPAC, we support pro-business candidates who understand the importance of a vibrant economy for real estate. You can help by supporting RPAC. It’s easy. Your association includes a voluntary contribution to RPAC on your annual dues invoice. Pay it, and you are an RPAC supporter. If you haven’t supported RPAC this year, I encourage you to do so by clicking here.
Michael Dey, Director of Government Affairs