A recount in the Florence mayoral election will take place Thursday after results showed challenger Stephen J. Wukela ahead of incumbent Frank Willis by one vote.
Wukela received 1,468 votes, while Willis had 1,467, according to results available Tuesday night, which included absentee ballots.
“We’re happy to know that we’re ahead, and we look forward to addressing the issues of the city,” said Wukela, 32, a Florence attorney.
PRIMARY RESULTS
For complete results from races in the Grand Strand, Pee Dee and more, click here.
Wukela first sought public office four years ago, when he ran unsuccessfully against S.C. Sen. Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, who is unopposed in seeking an eighth Senate term in November.
Willis, 66, is seeking a fourth term. He hasn’t faced opposition since the 1995, when he was first elected mayor.
Willis said his campaign will wait to see the results of the recount to decide what action it will take next. He said there are several challenged ballots in the election.
“We just think that there were a number of questionable activities in different precincts that we just want to take a look at and see, where do we go from there?” Willis said. He didn’t name any specific issues that might have occurred.
The two candidates took part in an hourlong debate at Francis Marion University on June 3, exactly one week before the primary.
Willis, focusing on his record as mayor, has touted the efforts of the Mayor’s Coalition To Prevent Juvenile Crime and said city council during his tenure has succeeded every year in balancing its budget with no general fund tax increases.
Both candidates have said downtown redevelopment is a crucial issue for them.
Wukela has campaigned on a platform of change, similar to that of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee U.S. Sen. Barack Obama.
Wukela has said he wants to operate an open government and unite a city “divided against itself” racially, financially and geographically.
The candidate also said the city should work harder to spur development in north Florence as well as clean up or demolish abandoned buildings that are havens for crime.
Wukela also opposes Santee Cooper’s proposed coal-fired plant in Kingsburg.
Willis said at last week’s debate that the city should focus on environmental issues it can effectively deal with.
Florence will take such measures as capturing the methane byproduct from its improved future wastewater treatment plant and converting the gas into power to help run the facility, Willis has said.
City employees also plant a tree daily, and Florence recently became the state’s seventh “Cool City.”
Wukela said in the debate he would support property tax increases because they would help fund schools, which are in disrepair in the Pee Dee, he said.
Willis responded that raising taxes will eventually be inevitable, but the city lowered its property taxes in 1995 and 1996, and has kept taxes down through economic growth.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement