Caldwell Wins Utilities Commissioner Seat

Out of three candidates in the race for the Easley Combined Utilities Commissioner seat, Nick Caldwell has been named the unofficial winner after polls closed Tuesday evening.

Caldwell led the pack with 388 votes, Jerry Ross had 116, and Rusty Jones followed with 93. There are 23 provisional ballots that remain to be counted but Caldwell will maintain a comfortable lead with far greater than 50 percent of the votes.

Caldwell will take over the vacant commission seat from his father-in-law James Findley.

"I'm extremely excited and very proud," Nick Caldwell said. "I understand the challenges that lie ahead and I'm ready to take them on."

Caldwell said he spent the day visiting the polls to see what the turnout looked like at each.

"I was very nervous, I was just trying to stay busy."

Jerry Ross and Rusty Jones both said they felt good about their campaigns and wished Caldwell the best in his new position.

"I've contacted Nick already and congratulated him," Jones said. "Nick's a great guy and he's got a great head on his shoulders, he ran a great campaign."

With 598 total votes, each candidate said they were pleased with the turnout at the polls on Tuesday.

"I appreciate all the people that voted," Ross said. "I did the best that I could do, but in the end the voters decided."

"I'd always like to see at least a 90 percent turnout, but I'd expect to see more like 7-10 percent for a smaller election like this," Allen said. "Unfortunately with these smaller elections people don't always take the time."

In a race with three candidates, the winner is not decided simply by who gets the most votes, according to Pickens County Registration and Elections Commission Executive Director Rodney Allen.

"A candidate has to get over half the total votes," Allen said. 

If there are 100 total votes, one of the three candidates would need at least 51 votes to be declared the winner. Otherwise the contest would go into a run-off election.

"In a run-off election the top two candidates will be in a run-off election two weeks from today," Allen said. 

Allen also said that Tuesday night's final count from the city's 10 polling precincts does not necessarily determine the winner. 

"Thursday morning we will definitively know the outcome once the provisional ballots are counted," Allen said.

Absentee ballots were due at the Pickens County Registration and Elections Commission office by 7 p.m. on Tuesday but will be counted starting at 9 a.m. on Thursday. Once the 22 provisional votes are counted the results of Tuesday's election will become official.

Incumbents Mayor Larry Bagwell, Ward 1 Councilman Brian Garrison, Ward 3 Councilman Chris Mann, and Ward 5 Councilman Thomas Wright will each serve another term in office after running unopposed this election cycle.