Candidate Profile: Johnny Jeffcoat

The June 12 primary is only days away. Patch is looking at incumbents and their challengers running for local offices in Lexington County and in the state.

In the Lexington County Council District 6 race, incumbent Johnny Jeffcoat is running against Cory Norris, founder of the Lexington Tea Party. 

Name: Johnny Jeffcoat

Age: 65

Occupation: Chair, Lexington Economic Development Committee;

Current Political Position: Vice chairman, Lexington County Council

Years in office: Served four terms on council

Prior experience: Served on Lexington County Planning Commission for seven years

Family: Married, two children and three grandchildren

Education: Attended Palmer College majoring in business management

Website: http://www.johnnyjeffcoat.com/home

Why are seeking re-election or running for this office? What areas will you seek to focus on and what do hope to accomplish in your term?

"[I want to] finish a couple of industrial parks so that we can bring more jobs into Lexington County. I would like to continue to work on some of the green space and see some of the trails finished that we started. And continue to support recreation in the county, fire service and police protection in the county. [I want to] help reduce the response time of our fire and police, and EMS."

Jeffcoat said reducing the response time can be done through more training. 

"It’s already good. We don’t have a bad response time on any of them. We’re constantly working to keep it better than average and try to get above average if we can."

What makes you the best person for the job?

“My opponent, from what I understand, doesn’t like government. I’m just completely opposite from my opponent.” 

What do you think needs to be done in order to serve residents better?

"We certainly need to control spending." 

Jeffcoat said a survey was performed of the county and it showed that the county was able to provide services for less money than comparable counties the size of Lexington County.

"We’ll continue to do that if we can. I would also like to see some of the traffic problems addressed in the county. We have some challenges in that area."

He said he would like to work on getting some federal grants to help improve intersections and roads.

Are there any other comments you'd like to make, or would you like to discuss something not raised in our questions?

"I’ve enjoyed serving and I would like to continue to do so, so that we can conquer some of the challenges ahead."

Jeffcoat said he knows what it's like to be a small businessman having owned his own insurance agency for more than 25 years and the challenges they face.

"We need to lower taxes for small business."