General Election Results 2023 (Local)
This was an off-cycle election, so there were no Presidents, Governors, or US Senators on the ballot in South Carolina, but there were a number of interesting local questions decided.
SCHOOL BOARDS
School boards across the state have seen turnover in recent election cycles. This was most pronounced in Charleston County, where due to a switch to single-member districts, nine seats (all of them) were on the ballot in the same cycle in 2022. The other large countywide district, Greenville, has been a battleground in the past. In Richland County School District Two, all incumbents up for reelection in 2022 were either defeated or decided not to run.
Most school district trustee elections have shifted to the fall in even-numbered years when more voters go to the polls. The seven districts in Spartanburg County are not among them. Nearly 30 seats were on the ballot on Tuesday across the seven districts in that one county. By our count, no incumbents were defeated, but due to board retirements, new trustees won about one-fourth of the seats.
Notes: *There are 64 school board seats across the seven districts in Spartanburg County. The countywide single school district in Greenville has 12 seats. *Senator Joshua Kimbrell’s S.244 would shift all trustee elections to the fall of even-numbered years.
There were also a number of referenda (referendums).
REFERENDUMS (REFERENDA)
Anderson County School District 4
$115 million General Obligation Bonds 52% Yes
Beaufort County Schools
$439 million General Obligation Bonds 72% Yes
Cherokee School District
$162.50 million General Obligation Bonds 83% No
Fripp Island Public Service District (PSD)
Question #1 $1.32 million General Obligation Bonds 89% Yes
Question #2 $870,000 General Obligation Bonds 94% Yes
Question #3 $3.06 million General Obligation Bonds (Fripp Inlet Bridge) 96% Yes
Spartanburg County
Must a special one percent sales and use tax be reimposed in Spartanburg County, South Carolina for 6 years to raise the amounts specified for the following purposes: 55% Yes
- $157,535,684 for thirty-eight (38) road improvement, repaving, and resurfacing projects for Spartanburg County State-maintained roads,
- $165,129,588 for four hundred seventy-eight (478) Spartanburg County road improvement, repaving, and resurfacing projects,
- $42,000,000 for fourteen (14) intersection improvement projects,
- $40,250,000 for seven (7) Spartanburg County road corridor reconstruction projects,
- $23,500,000 for bridge replacement projects, including but not limited to the replacement of ten (10) wood and steel pile bridges
- $28,250,000 for transportation-related stormwater improvement projects, including but not limited to replacement of thirty (30) corrugated metal pipe and box culverts used to convey stormwater
- $9,000,000 for road safety projects 8 $12,334,728 for city and town road improvement, repaving, and resurfacing projects
City of Charleston
Parks and Recreation $70 million capital improvements 80% Yes
City of Isle of Palms
Shall the City of Isle of Palms limit the investment short-term rental business licenses to a maximum of 1,600? 56% No (Short-term rentals that are owner-occupied would not have been subject to a cap, but with the failure of this referendum, there is a cap on neither type.)
Town of James Island
Shall the Town of James Island change its number of members of Council from four to six with the two additional positions filled at the next municipal election in November 2025? 66% Yes
Town of Estill
Shall the municipality of the Town of Estill change its form of government from Mayor-Council form to Council form by ordinance? 53% Yes
Town of Blythewood
Shall the Town of Blythewood change the method by which each Town Council person is elected from the at-large method of election to a method of election where each Town Council person would be elected from single-member voting districts, excluding the election of the Mayor? 59% No
