COLUMBIA, S.C. — In Clarendon County, among acres of farmland and agriculture, the race for county council chair pits a longtime leader against a political newcomer.
Both candidates say they’re running to help their fellow citizens.
Democrat Dwight Stewart is no stranger to local politics, having served on the Clarendon County Council for over 20 years. He said he made the decision to run for council chair so he could continue to work for the community.
“Just to give back and improve our county and help in any way I can. I enjoy working with people and I just really enjoy a rural county and just love the people here,” Stewart said.
His opponent, Republican Jay Johnson, is a political newcomer who says he’s running for change.
“You go in every little county store, every restaurant, people are always complaining. People always want change, but nobody wants to step up and try to make change. I just feel like I’m the guy who could help and do some good for our county,” Johnson explained.
Both candidates said taxes are a growing concern for the county.
“One of the challenges in a rural county such as ours, is that we have a small tax base. If we as a county need to buy a firetruck or something, it really costs us much more per citizen than say it does in Greenville County. And certainly, we want the same type of firetruck that everybody else has. We want our citizens to be safe, but that’s just a challenge for a county, for any rural county,” Stewart said.
“We’ve got to do something to get some kind of industry in our county, because we pay the highest property taxes of any county around us. That’s one of the main concerns you hear with people is, ‘You know, our taxes are just outrageously high compared to neighboring counties.' I don’t really know what we’re going to have to do to fix that, but that’s my biggest concern and priority one for me,” Johnson said.
The candidates offered different views about how experience plays into the role of county council chair.
“He (Johnson) just has no experience, and it’s just a tough job just to start right from no experience. Believe me, some days you feel like you’re going about a hundred miles an hour and that’s not fast enough,” Stewart said of Johnson.
“I mean, it’s a learning experience. Anything you do is learning. When you start school, you don’t know how to read and write, but you learn as you go. And I’ve got just as much experience as Dwight had on day one when he took office,” Johnson said.
Both Stewart and Johnson say responsible spending is also important to the future of the Clarendon County, and that they each feel they are the best candidate to watch over taxpayer dollars.
Voters in Clarendon County will have their chance to weigh in on who they want to see as the next county council chair on November 5th.