Hardy King Elected Irmo's Next Mayor

Hardy King, who has been on Irmo Town Council since 2005, has been elected the town's mayor.

On Tuesday night, report King received 534 votes to win against Kathy Condom, Barry Walker Sr. and Suzanne Gooch.

Condom, whose terms ends this month, received 393 votes. Walker, who remains on the council until 2013, received 354 votes and Gooch received 13 votes.

King said Tuesday's election results was an indication that Irmo residents wanted to continue the legacy of conservatism that outgoing Mayor John Gibbons has shown during his 20-year career in the position.

"I think it said a lot about the people of Irmo .... they want to continue on the same path that we’ve been on for years, which is limited government, low taxes and spending money only on things we need to spend money on," King said. "The police department, beautification, stay conservative… stay lean."

"I think that’s what they’re saying and they want somebody in there that will say no to people and fight for them like the (former) mayor (John Gibbons) has been doing."

Even though Walker has lost the mayoral race, he still holds a seat on council.

"I will continue to look out for small business (and) the town of Irmo," Walker said "I have two years left on council and two years I’ll make sure Hardy King doesn’t screw it up."

Walker also said he was disappointed in the low voter turnout among African Americans in Irmo.

"I was surprised at the African American turnout," Walker said. "When the African Americans get together and decide they want to control stuff and they want people in power that can help them. Then they’ll find someone they can support and back."

"In the meantime, I'm not that person they're going to back. That's OK. I’ll be a councilman until 2013."

Irmo residents also voted to fill two council seats.

Council member Harvey Hoots, who was seeking re-election, received 626 votes to retain his seat.

Candidate Paul Younginer, who served on council from 1996 to 2005, received the most votes at 908.

Sarah Watson received 592 votes.

Hoots said he was surprised by the mayoral race and was really surprised by how close Watson came to winning.

He said he is thankful for being re-elected and will continue to "do the same thing (he's) done for the last 20 years, being a good steward of people’s money."

Younginer said he was thankful for the voters who elected him to serve once again on council.

"No one can deny that I love Irmo," Younginer said. "I’m glad to be back doing what I like to do best (and that's) helping people."

"I’m very happy with these results. For anybody to take the time out of their day ...it takes some effort to go to those polls. I appreciate all those voters who took a little time out of their busy schedule to vote."

Watson said she thought Irmo's election was a good race, but was disappointed with voter turnout. 

"For the number of voters registered in the books for the town of Irmo the turnout was awful," Watson said. "More people need to come out and vote, and express their views..."

"I applaud the winners and I certainly congratulate them. Hardy King fought a tremendous race and I applaud him."