Jeff Kidd is editor of The Beaufort Gazette and The Island Packet. He has lived in Beaufort since 1992 and previously was sports editor of the Gazette and the Packet. | With the S.C. party primaries nearly upon us — the first election in which post-2010 reapportionment applies in a large-scale way — several readers and a few candidates have requested that we run detailed maps of new districts.
The new S.C. House of Representatives District 120, which essentially is an additional seat for Beaufort County, seems to be particularly vexing — many living around the boundary areas of that district report that they are unsure in if they’re in or out. In fact, during a recent debate, a show of hands indicated that only a few of the dozens of people in attendance actually live in the district, candidate Weston Newton reported.
To remedy the situation, we are working on maps that will show the boundaries of that district (and others) in some detail. In the meantime, you can see the District 120 boundaries on a map of all districts in Beaufort County on the county’s website. You also can view boundaries for new congressional, state Senate, and County Council and Board of Education seats.
This week, we will start rolling out primary coverage, which will extend across both print and online platforms. Let’s start with our Twitter hashtag, #BftCoElections, which we will use on all of our newsroom accounts for election-related news. We’ll also use this hash tag in the run-up to November’s general election.
Also, there is a lot of useful information on our online elections page, and we’ll be updating it further in coming days. There, we will be adding questionnaire responses and audio files of candidates’ interviews with the editorial board. Those materials are part of our preparations for editorial board endorsements, which will be issued for offices in which one party’s nomination is contested and the other party isn’t fielding a candidate. (It just so happens that the winner of all three contested party primaries June 12 will not face major-party opposition in November’s general election.)
Parts of the questionnaires and race-by-race preview stories will appear ahead of the endorsements. The tentative schedule for those is:
Wednesday, June 6: County Council District 1, (Gerald Dawson, Herb Glaze) Democratic primary
Thursday, June 7: Clerk of Court, (Jerri Roseneau, Ray Garza) Republican primary
Friday, June 8: S.C. House District 120, (Weston Newton, Laura Sterling, Jerry Stewart) Republican primary
We’ll also have a general primary preview Sunday, June 10 and on voting day, Tuesday, June 12, to include a list of races, polling places and other pertinent information.
The tentative endorsement schedule is:
Thursday, June 7: County Council District 1, Democratic primary
Friday, June 8: Clerk of Court, Republican primary
Saturday, June 9: S.C. House District 120, Republican