Boone re-elected as Florence County sheriff
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Boone wins
Boone wins
Incumbent Republican Sheriff Kenney Boone will continue serving Florence County after he raked in more than 23,000 votes Tuesday and defeated democratic opponent Jimmy Gregg.
Boone recorded 23,640 votes to Gregg’s 17,361 at press time Tuesday.
OUR ELECTION COVERAGE
Coverage from the Morning News and WBTW News13, The Weekly Observer and the Star & Enterprise:
- Election by the numbers
- Horry voters say ‘yes’ to the penny
- Horry County election update
- Boone re-elected as Florence County sheriff
- Fowler to keep Florence County treasurer’s seat
- Incumbents lead S.C. House 60, 63 races
- Voters OK Sunday alcohol sales in Florence, deny them in Lake City
- Williams-Blake, Willis lead Florence city council races
- Wukela wins Florence mayoral race
- Williamsburg opens floodgates for Obama
- Mullins, Nichols get new mayors
- Hulon wins Dillon County sheriff’s post
- Marlboro County passes school bond referendum
OUR STORIES IN PICTURES
See our stories in pictures from the Morning News, WBTW News13 and scnow.com photographers:
- Slide Show: Wukela Celebrates at Michael’s on the Loop
- Slide Show: Florence Mayoral candidate Rocky Pearce on election night
- Slide Show: The Florence County Sheriff’s race
- Slide Show: Election in the Pee Dee
- Slide Show: Election day on the Grand Strand
OTHERS’ STORIES
Read coverage from around the area:
- Myrtle Beach Online: Incumbents leading in Horry County Council races
- Myrtle Beach Online: Rankin to hold onto state senate seat
- From Georgetown Times: Charlton, Johnson, Beard win county council
- From the Star News: Republicans sweep Brunswick school board seats
STATE & NATION
- Obama makes history; turns to sobering challenges
- McCain concedes, acknowledges historic achievement
- Democratic majorities stronger, tougher
- Brown re-elected to US House from SC 1st District
Local political analysts expected the race to be close because of each candidate’s popularity and the number of loyal supporters each had.
Boone announced he intended to run for re-election last fall, shortly after going public with his decision to switch political parties.
Boone announced he was switching to the Republican Party during an Oct. 24, 2007, speech on the steps of the Drs. Bruce & Lee Foundation Library in Florence.
Boone said as a Republican, he joined other Republican elected officials in Florence and in the Palmetto State who believe in being aggressive in crime prevention.
Boone said he’s proud of his deputies and the work he and his staff have done during the past four years and he hopes to continue moving in a positive direction.
Gregg, who endorsed Boone after he retired from the office four years ago, said he decided to run against Boone because things were moving in a negative direction.
Gregg had been sheriff for 12 years before giving up the post.
Gregg announced he would run against Boone in November 2007 — a full year before elections were held for the position.
“I honestly think that Kenney’s a good guy and I think his heart is in and it’s where it needs to be,” Gregg said before the election. “I think he knows what he wants to do but I don’t think he’s laying the proper foundation.”
Boone said he plans to spend his next term in office concentrating on preventing youths from becoming involved in illegal activity.
“We want to continue with what we’ve done. I feel like (we need to expand on) some of our summer programs with our children,” he said. “Any given summer, we might contact maybe three or four hundred kids. But in Florence School District 1 alone, they unleash 16,000 kids. We need to try to reach more kids. That’s very much a passion for me.”
Boone joined the Florence County Sheriff’s Office in 1987.
He graduated from Florence-Darlington Technical College after earning an associate degree in criminal justice.
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Reader Reactions
(CITIZEN4U)Responding back to you. You really need to cut all this b/s out. And for your information, I have already been and done what you r doing now.You really need to get on my level. You know there is no job security out there. As far as the drug dealer thing, that only works on TV. You should know of all people u work out there. As we know now Kenny fired those great honest deputies. I think FCSO has lost a big access to them. Hey Deputy sound like you are looking for a new position or something, I am sure you know of all people the routine as much as you talk. (JUST STAY ON YOUR KNEES A LITTLER LONGER). I know if u keep getting involve in those polities you will be out the door to and you will be looking for job also, maybe at Sonic. Matter of Fact U can come work for me. You should look at it, anyone can be a Deputy. Larry Roscoe, and lil donnie prime examples….........
citizen4u-You sound like one of the jackasses that work for Kenney and helped destroy these good officers reputations.
Citizen4u - Do you realize how ridiculous you sound? Just because a candidate’s WIFE says something is going to happen - and that something is as INCREDIBLY STUPID as to be firing almost an entire Sheriff’s department - that does not mean it is going to happen. You just don’t get it - you are basing your opinion on things people “TELL” you and not the work record of those deputies. There are 2 sides to every story. Those deputies did not make the department look bad, as you seem to indicate. We are outraged that deputies who did NOT politic against the sheriff were dismissed. For the sake of argument, lets say that anyone who politics against a sitting Sheriff should be fired. THE WRONG PEOPLE STILL GOT FIRED! They were not trying to make the department look bad. You still don’t have any evidence to support their dismissals. You “hear” - you “think” but you just don’t know. I blame Kenney for listening to the lies and I really blame the backstabbers who fed them to him. I hope if it ever happens to you, you will be just as casual and flippant as you watch your retirement, your reputation and your source of income for your family disappear. And I hope you just get up the next day, skip out the door and find no problems because the perfect job is waiting for you. I am finished posting here because I can feel good about the fact that I have made my point and you are just drowning in yours. I hope for your sake, and for Kenney’s sake, that this thing is over quickly. But I wouldn’t count on it. This was just too wrong.
Voice of Reason, That comment about the officers being fired came right out of jimmys wifes mouth and if you know them you know that she wears the pants. The comment was also made by her that she was going to be there on the day that jimmy fired all of those people…You know I dont wish anything bad on anyone, but you know as well as i do thats how a sheriffs office works. If i were the sheriff and someone were trying to vote or politic against me then of course that person would be gone. How can i depend on those deputys to make the department look good ? They may half a$$ their work to make me look bad. I hear the fire dept all the time asking about one of them and other deputys saying that everytime they called that one investigator out for his assistance his response was “do the report and i’ll come out on monday and take a look”. Im sorry you are upset about the firings but dont blame Boone and if they are as hard of workers as you say they are then im sure they will have no problem finding another job.
Voice of Reason:
Thank you! You are so correct in your statements. I have personally known one of these deputies since he was a toddler, and it breaks my heart for him and his family. These were good men and woman, who deserved better than what they got. We do have some great deputies, however, there are some that abuse their position. Thank you again for your comments!
Thanks for your response Citizen4u. You have just proven our point. You are not a clear, independent thinker and you just proved it. No - I don’t think Jimmy Gregg would have fired everyone on that list because then we would have been left with a MIGHTY small department providing basically NO protection for the county. Jimmy Gregg might not be the best man for the job right now, but he is not STUPID. If you are a deputy, I sure hope you use a different set of reasoning skills when you are on the job. That comment is just asinine and based on emotion and not fact or reason. And again - you are assuming that those deputies who were fired don’t like Sheriff Boone. You and others have missed the entire point - Some of those deputies VOTED for BOONE but got smeared as traitors by their “friends”. I voted for Kenney - I want him to be Sheriff. But I want the backstabbing of innocent hardworking people to stop, and I want those who are continuing to slam those deputies to come out from behind their koolaid stained badges and put their work record up against those fired deputies and then let the public see just how ridiculous the concept that you have to be a “yes man” to keep your job really is. People go to work every day and disagree with their bosses and do their jobs anyway. Sadly, some of these people didn’t even disagree with Kenney. They just did something to get on the wrong side of some of Kenney’s sycophants and they got burned. Aren’t you a little worried it could happen to you? Or are you the one who buried the knife?
(tired of it all, and voice of reason) Look at it this way. Had jimmy won this election you dont think he would have fired everyone that supported BOONE ? Im sure you know the answer to that due to the fact that his wife made the comment to our court officials that all of the names posted in the news paper supporting Boone would be “looking for a new job” dont tell me that you dont think it would have happened. Boone was the best man for the job which is why he got re-elected. Jimmy couldnt even follow the simple rules of the election, trying to deceive the public by putting “re” elect jimmy gregg on his signs, Placing his 4 by 8 signs up in the city limits….If they didnt like the way the sheriff was handling things then why didnt they quit themselves. Why did they stay ? Its the same reason Boone fired them. If they didnt like the way Boone was doing things then how could Boone trust them to do the right thing if they are not seeing eye to eye.
To all those who are here defending the firing of the dedicated, honest, hardworking deputies that apparently MANY people respect, you should probably pay attention. Yes - in every election people get fired. Its wrong but it happens. But you FCSO deputies who are so “gung ho” to defend these particular firings probably should realize that THIS YEAR, this time, it may have been TOO MUCH. Usually the public just rolls over and accepts these firings. The deputies drinking the current flavor koolaid might want to consider that if the public gets mad enough, they might start looking a little harder at what is going on. This time I can tell you that people are pretty mad. If deputies can lose their jobs even if they doing a great job, what is going to happen to those of you who ride around on taxpayer dollar and DON’T do a good job? And you know who you are. Any of you so firm in your stance that you are willing to wear a button on your uniform that says “I supported the firings?“ I don’t think so. Karma, my friends, is going to be rough for you but a joy for some of the rest of us.
citizen4u:
Unless you are one of the ones spreading the rumors, you have no clue what these deputies did or did not do. And let me say this, if any of the deputies were doing wrong, then if Mr. Boone is the Sheriff you say he is, then it was his civic duty to relieve them of their duties immediately. To not do so, means that you are not doing the duty you swore to do when you were sworn in. So if we are to believe you, rather than do what he was sworn to do, he chose to wait it out and see if they voted for him or not. And if they supported him, then any thing that they are being accused of doing would have been okay? He knew that if he let them go before the election, he would lose. Now that tells me something about his character. If he is the honest hardworking person you profess, then he personally should have investigated any and all supposedly wrongdoings and approached these people personally for the truth, not relied upon a bunch of a.. kissers to do the work for him. And that is what people are fed up with. He and his yes men can enjoy the next four years, then they are going to feel what they have put others through, then let’s see if you feel the same!! There is great truth to the saying what goes around comes around. And by the way, you do not have to love your boss in order to do a great job. You just have to believe in what you are doing and have the desire to do the job that you are hired for. Very few people can honestly say that they love their boss.
I have had the privilage of knowing investigator Bert, one of the former employees that were wrongfully fired, for many many years and can tell you Florence County has lost one of the most honest and hardworking employees that I know. Shame on the BIG SHERIFF KENNY BOONE. He didn’t even have the guts to look his own employees that have served so well under him for the last four years in the eye and give them a chance to explain the rumors that were being spread about them. He sent in fellow officers to take their badge and gun and pride away just like that.Yes, lets just move on . Its just a investigator who gave the FCSO 15 years of his life and loved his job and was happy to serve. In my opinion, Bert is better off. With friends and coworkers and especially a BOSS like Kenney, who needs criminals and enemies? I would hate to know the people I had covering my back in a dangerous situation were the same people spreading rumors that I wasn’t supporting my employer. I hope the same fate comes to those individuals. You know who you are. These are the kind of people we have left protecting us and our children.
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