BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C.—Fourteen Republican candidates had hoped for the chance to become Berkeley County’s first sheriff in about twenty years, now two of them will inch closer to that goal.
Brian Adams, a North Charleston police officer, and Duane Lewis, the deputy chief of law enforcement at Santee Cooper, will both head to a runoff on May 5th.
While Adams and Lewis received more votes than the other twelve candidates, neither secured enough to be named the clear winner.
On Tuesday night Adams received 23.75% of the votes—the most out of all the candidates running Tuesday.
“I’m excited. It’s great. I think that it shows that the county is ready for a change in a new direction in the sheriff’s
office,” stated Adams after the results came down. “I’m prepared. I’m ready to hit the ground running. I’ve got good ideas, new ideas and a new direction I can bring to the sheriff’s office, and we can get back to serving the county.”
This, of course, isn’t Adams’ first rodeo. He ran against longtime Berkeley County Sheriff Wayne DeWitt only ten months ago. During the June 2014 primary Adams lost against DeWitt, receiving 35.03% of the vote and DeWitt with 58.71% of the vote.
Looking back, Adams believes life has a funny way of working itself all out.
“I think it was a blessing in disguise. I got so much experience. I learned a lot during the last campaign, and I think it
helped me tremendously through this campaign,” stated Adams.
Although Lewis received only 13.05% of the vote Tuesday night, he says he’s very optimistic about the future.
“I’m very happy to be in the runoff,” stated Lewis. “We ran a positive campaign on some grassroots issues that
obviously meant something to the people of Berkeley County. I bring to the table professionalism, ethical conduct and providing better service to the people of Berkeley County.”
For much of the night, Berkeley County Chief Deputy Rick Ollic and Lewis were neck-and-neck. In the end, Ollic finished with 12.31 percent of the votes.
Because there is less than a one percent difference between the two, there will be a mandatory recount on Thursday. Election officials say, however, it’s highly unlikely to change the results.
Whichever candidate wins the runoff in May will then head to the general election on June 9, facing off against Democratic candidate Anthony Smalls.
To learn more about Brian Adams, click here.
To learn more about Duane Lewis, click here.
On Camera Interviews With The Candidates:
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