Aiken Mayor’s Race Headed to Recount
There was a runoff held Tuesday to determine who would win the Republican mayoral primary runoff in Aiken, but at the end of the day, there was still no clear-cut winner.
The final tally shows local restauranteur Teddy Milner leading incumbent Rick Osbon by just 14 votes. That means a recount today is required to confirm the results.
Milner had 2,135 votes to Osbon’s 2,121 votes. South Carolina law requires an automatic recount when a candidate leads by less then 1%.
Aiken County Republican Party Chairwoman Debbie Epling says the recount will be done by this afternoon.
Osbon, who has been mayor in Aiken since 2015, was reelected in 2019. Whoever is deemed the winner of Tuesday’s runoff will be unopposed in the November general election.
Turnout for the runoff was just under 19%, slightly higher than the turnout for the primary on August 8. Osbon was the top vote-getter in the primary, but not enough to win the election outright. He had 1,512 votes to Milner’s 1,426.
After today’s recount, the Aiken County Board of Elections will meet Thursday to certify the results.
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