Some polling places moved

By Bru Nimmons

Staff Reporter

bnimmons@thepccourier.com

COUNTY — As South Carolina inches closer to its statewide primary on Tuesday, Pickens County

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voters must soon choose who will represent them in November’s general election, and with six contested county races, competition is expected to be fierce on Election Night.

Pickens County Council has two seats up for election this November, and both are hotly contested between multiple candidates.

In District 3, longtime Pickens resident Debbie Gravely, Tim Robinson and former Pickens County School Board trustee Alex Saitta all vie to unseat incumbent Republican Wes Hendricks in Tuesday’s primary.

Meanwhile, in the District 6 Republican primary, businessmen Derrick Craft and Darrell Gibbs will take on former school board trustee Henry Wilson to replace current District 6 Councilman Carl Hudson, who did not seek reelection.

Outside of county council, there are plenty of seats up for grabs in the State House this year, with three contested seats in Pickens County.

Gary Clary’s District 3 seat is the prize three Republican candidates will have their eyes on Tuesday, as Pickens County School Board trustee Phillip Bowers, retired businessman Jerry Carter and political newcomer William Masters will face off for the right to take on Democrat Eunice Lehmacher in November.

Elsewhere in the county, three-term Republican incumbent Neal Collins faces competition from local businessmen David Cox and Allan Quinn for the House District 5 seat, while District 10’s West Cox will hope to retain his seat against retired police officer Mark Durham.

Countywide, third-term Republican incumbent Sheriff Rick Clark will take on Upstate law enforcement veteran David Harrison in Tuesday’s primary.

Finally, longtime Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham will face opposition from Duke Buckner, Michael LaPierre and Joe Reynolds for the right to face Democrat Jaime Harrison in November, while Democrats Hosea Cleveland and Mark D. Welch will face off for the party’s U.S. House District 3 nomination and a chance to unseat Republican Jeff Duncan in November.

POLLING PLACES MOVED

Some Pickens County voters will have to travel to new polling locations in order to vote on Tuesday, with polling places in Clemson, Easley, Liberty and Pickens subjected to the changes.

The city of Clemson will see three precincts move, as the University, Clemson and Isaqueena precincts have moved to Clemson Elementary School, located at 581 Berkley Drive.

Elsewhere, the city of Easley will see the most change with six polling location changes. The Crestview and Tri-County precincts will now be located at Tri-County Technical College’s Easley campus at 1774 Powdersvile Road. The Fruit Mountain and Crestview polling sites are now located at the South Carolina National Guard Recruiting Center at 107 Rockmont Road.

The final location changes are at the Sitton and Zion precincts, which have been moved to Rock Springs Baptist Church at 310 Rock Springs Road, Building H, and Easley High School at 154 Green Wave Blvd., respectively.

Both Liberty and Pickens have only one polling location change. The North Liberty precinct has moved to Liberty First Baptist Church at 403 Edgemont Ave., and the Glassy Mountain precinct has moved to Glassy Mountain View Baptist Church at 216 S. Glassy Mountain Church Road.

The polls will open for the election at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, June 9, and will stay open until 7 p.m. Absentee voting is still available at the Pickens County Voter Registration and Elections office at the county administration building in Pickens.

For more information on the election or voting absentee, visit pickenselections.org or call (864) 898-5948.