Dalhi Myers beats Bernice Scott in Richland Council District 10 runoff

Echoing the results of a special runoff election two weeks ago, voters in Richland County Council District 10 elected a political newcomer to begin a four-year council term in January.

Attorney Dalhi Myers is the first person outside of Bernice Scott’s family to represent District 10 in nearly three decades. Myers easily beat Scott, a former 20-year council veteran, in Tuesday’s runoff election.

District 10 covers the majority of Lower Richland, including Eastover, Gadsden and Hopkins.

The seat opened up after Scott’s son-in-law, Kelvin Washington, was removed from office for failing to file income tax returns for three years. He would have been up for re-election for a third term this November.

Myers also beat Scott in a special runoff election two weeks ago to temporarily fill the seat to finish out Washington’s vacated term, which ends in January.

“I’m just humbled by it and grateful for it,” Myers said of voters’ support Tuesday. “I want the people of Richland County ... to know that I’m going to work hard every day to do my best.”

Myers joins Yvonne McBride and Calvin “Chip” Jackson as brand-new faces just elected to County Council, along with former councilwoman Gwen Kennedy, who was elected to return to the District 7 seat she last held four years ago.

Myers said she would look to Scott “for help and for insight” as she begins her council service. But, Myers said, “the people want someone different in the seat.”

“When you’re the new kid on the block, it does pay to respect the kids who have been there and to work with them and to learn from them,” Myers said.

This story was originally published June 28, 2016 at 8:38 PM with the headline "Dalhi Myers beats Bernice Scott in Richland Council District 10 runoff."