West Columbia, SC 11/06/2024 (Paul Kirby) – Lexington County School District Two, the school district that serves Cayce, West Columbia, Springdale, Pine Ridge, and South Congaree, elected four members to serve on its Board of Trustees, Tuesday. Nine candidates filed to run for four seats that were open. Of those four seats, two were open because longtime board members Beth Branham and Cindy Kessler did not seek re-election. The other two seats were open because incumbents Abbott “Tre” Bray and Liz Chitty Castles’ four-year terms were up, forcing them to run for re-election.
This, like almost all five Lexington County School Districts, was a non-partisan, at large election. This means that candidates do not have to declare their political affiliation. As an example, they do not have to file as a Republican, Democrat, Independent, or member of any other party as most political candidates for other offices do in Lexington County. They also have no districts meaning that a resident of any portion of the school district can vote for any of the candidates that they choose. They do not have to run in a specific area close to the voter or an area assigned by some other political body such as the SC State Legislature.
The nine candidates for the Lexington Two board, in alphabetical order, were:
Craig Aull
Barry Bolen
Abbott “Tre” Bray (i)
Mary Burkett
Liz Chitty Castles (i)
Ivan Earle
Brian Habing
Allen Knotts
Cliff Springs
(i) denotes incumbent
As of 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday, November 6, 2024, the four candidates with the highest number of votes were:
Total number of votes received
1. Mary Burkett 8,912 or 17.37%
2. Liz Chitty Castles 7,514 or 14.65%
3. Craig Aull 7,167 or 13.97%
4. Abbott “Tre” Bray 6,849 or 13.35%
The winners are official only after the election has been certified.
