Residents of Manning District 5 have been without representation on City Council for almost six months since the death of Councilman Gregory Witherspoon in March.
A circuit court judge's ruling late Thursday may change that, however. Third Circuit Judge W. Jeffrey Young signed an order upholding the results of a special runoff for the District 5 seat held July 22 in which Julius Dukes Jr. won by one vote over challenger Gloria Frierson.
The two met before Young Sept. 10 in Clarendon County Common Pleas Court. Dukes was represented by attorney Shaun Kent, Frierson by Rep. David Weeks. The Manning Times is awaiting a phone call from Weeks and will post his reaction when we hear from him.
"This has truly been an experience, one I thought I would never have to go through," Dukes said Friday at his shoe repair shop in Manning. "My only concern throughout this process has been the time the citizens of this district have not been represented on City Council."
Mary Adger, who handles the city's elections, said Friday that she is unsure when Dukes may be seated. City Council has a meeting on Monday night, but Dukes has not been placed on the agenda as of yet.
"We would facilitate that with city council to see when they want to seat him," Adger said.
Kent said Thursday he hopes his client can be seated as soon as possible. Dukes said Friday that he respects his opponent, and just wants to get on with governing.
He said he'd like to see some of the issues that "plagued the District 5 special election from the beginning" resolved.
"I'd like to work on these voter lines," he said. "We need to get with the county and make sure that our lines match, so we don't have this confusion in the future."
Candidate Sharmane Anderson filed a protest after the July 8 special election, in which she came third and Louis Griffith came fourth, citing folks who were allegedly turned away from the polls who lived within the district. Her protest was denied by the Manning Municipal Election Commission.
"I'm just ready to get to work," Dukes said.
