Local candidates make it official
Several Charleston mayoral and city council candidates made their campaigns official last week. As of Friday, Aug. 9, a total of four candidates for mayor and nine candidates for various city council districts had filed to run in the general election on November 5, 2019. The filing period is open until Aug. 19.
Entering the mayoral race on Aug. 5, the first day of filing, were current Mayor John Tecklenburg, Daniel Island resident and current City Councilman Gary White, and Sheri Irwin, a West Ashley resident. Michelle Renee Orth added her name to the mayoral list later in the week. The fee to run for the city’s top post is $1000.
Mayor Tecklenburg, who is seeking re-election to his second term, commemorated the occasion by posting the selfie he took with his son, Joseph, when first filing to run for mayor in 2015, along with a new photo of the pair last week after submitting the required paperwork and fee for this year’s election.
“Now, like then, I’m fired up and ready to run a campaign that brings Charleston together,” wrote Mayor Tecklenburg on his campaign Facebook page. “We’ve accomplished a lot in the past four years, but we’ve got more to do. There are only 92 days until election day (Nov. 5th), will you join us?”
White also posted a photo to social media of his first day filing. The candidate elected to have his picture taken outside of the place he officially filed for office – the city’s William B. Regan Legal Center, a site named for his late great uncle, Bill Regan, who served the city for nearly three decades.
“I have very deep roots in Charleston,” posted White. “My family has been here for generations. My Great-Uncle served for 27 years as the city attorney for Charleston, my Great-Great Grandfather was the warden of the old City Jail. Today, I proudly follow in their footsteps of leadership by officially filing for Mayor of the City of Charleston.”
Several city council seats are up for grabs across the city in districts 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9. Three candidates – Angela Drake, Marie Delcioppo and Shawn Pinkston - have announced their campaigns for District 1, which includes all of Daniel Island, as well as parts of the Cainhoy peninsula and downtown Charleston. Drake was first to file for the seat on opening day, followed by Marie Delcioppo on Aug. 7. As of Friday, Pinkston had not yet filed. The filing fee for city council candidates is $150.