Jim Fair
Perry Williams is the toast of a victory party at his home tonight to celebrate his re-election as commissioner to Greer CPW. David Black shares in the celebration.
Jim Fair
Joe Baldwin, center, reads the results of tonight's Greer CPW election at a victory party at Perry Williams' house. Williams won re-election.
Williams beat Balding by 70 votes with Williams’s winning margin at 8.83 percent.. Williams totaled 431 votes to Balding’s 361 of the 793 votes cast.
When Cedar Grove Baptist Church precinct’s votes were reported at 7:35 p.m. it virtually sewed up the outcome. Williams received 82 votes to Balding’s 16. The 62-vote swing for Williams kept his lead to over 5 percent the rest of the evening.
“I’m always humbled by the opportunity to serve and that the citizens of Greer think enough of me to represent them in this position,” Williams said.
The CPW commissioner’s race pitted Williams, a veteran politician who served on City Council and won his first race for CPW in 2009 in a special election. It was Balding’s first political race. He served as CPW general manager for 21 years before retiring in 2009.
Williams embraced social media and combined it with traditional campaigning of speaking to civic and church groups. His campaign also targeted the "super voters" who are more likely to vote in elections. "I wanted to experiment with social media in this campaign and think there's something to it," Williams said.
Balding stayed with the traditional campaign of putting his resources into print media, mailings, signage and coupled that with door-to-door visits and hosting greets and meets.
“I’ve certainly been tested and consider it to be a good government when the incumbent is challenged,” Williams said. “I had a lot of help from friends and family who came together and campaigned for me.”
Balding said his support was overwhelming. "My family was very supportive and my friends gave me great support," Balding said. "I believe the voters in Greer looked at my experience and voted for me. I congratulate my opponent and I believe there are some big decisions that will need to be made in the next five years."
The election was postponed from last November while the City of Greer underwent its redistricting procedure. The election originally included four additional seats, but Mayor Rick Danner and city council members Jay Arrowood, Kimberly Bookert, and Wryley Bettis all filed for re-election and were unopposed, making them the winners according to state law.
The unofficial voting tabulated by the Greenville and Spartanburg counties election bureaus. The ballots were counted at Greer City Hall tonight. There were only one or or two ballots challenged and a recount isn't needed since the margin of victory exceeded one percent.
The results of tonight's election are unofficial until certified by the City of Greer Election Commission Thursday at 9 a.m. at City Hall.
|
GREENVILLE COUNTY |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jerry Balding |
Perry Williams |
Write In |
Total |
|
Castle Rock |
1 |
2 |
|
3 |
|
Fox Chase |
25 |
34 |
|
59 |
|
Frohawk |
53 |
40 |
|
93 |
|
Locust Hill |
0 |
0 |
|
0 |
|
O’Neal |
1 |
0 |
|
1 |
|
Sandy Flat |
1 |
8 |
|
9 |
|
Maple Creek |
22 |
18 |
|
40 |
|
Riverside |
12 |
32 |
1 |
45 |
|
Granite Creek |
15 |
16 |
|
31 |
|
Suber Mill |
41 |
42 |
|
83 |
|
Trade |
110 |
83 |
|
193 |
|
Tyger River |
16 |
18 |
|
34 |
|
Absentee |
16 |
13 |
|
29 |
|
Failsafe |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
SPARTANBURG COUNTY |
|
|
|
|
|
Rebirth |
10 |
3 |
|
13 |
|
Cedar Grove |
16 |
82 |
|
98 |
|
Victor Methodist Church |
17 |
29 |
|
46 |
|
Pelham Fire Station |
5 |
10 |
|
15 |
|
Absentee |
|
1 |
|
1 |
|
Failsafe |
|
|
|
|
|
Totals |
361 |
431 |
|
793 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Percentage of votes |
45.52 |
54.35 |
0.13 |
100.0 |