Winner emerges in Democratic runoff to replace Chip Jackson on Richland County Council
A winner has emerged in the special Democratic primary runoff for the Richland County Council’s 9th District, six weeks after the death of Chip Jackson, an incumbent council member who was the original nominee.
Jesica Mackey edged out Jonneika Farr in the runoff with 51.9% of the vote, according to unofficial returns released Tuesday night. Farr led in early returns, but Mackey ultimately won by a 46-vote margin.
She is now poised to win the seat in November, as no Republican has registered to run in that race, according to the State Election Commission’s website.
District 9 encompasses the Pontiac area in northeastern Richland County.
Farr and Mackey had advanced to Tuesday’s runoff after both garnered more than 30% of the vote but failed to win a majority in the special primary two weeks ago. Farr led that first race with 549 votes out of 1,416 ballots cast (38.77%), while Mackey finished second with 488 votes (34.46%).
But while Farr was endorsed by the primary’s third-place finisher, veteran and real estate agent Cody Pressley, Mackey was able to secure 631 votes out of 1,216 ballots cast Tuesday.
Farr had been running for the seat since June, challenging Jackson as he ran for a second term. He was first elected in 2016. She received 24.2% of the vote in that first round, forcing a runoff against Jackson, who fell just a few votes shy of a majority.
Two weeks later, Jackson won the runoff with more than 53% of the vote.
Jackson, a former Richland 2 school board member, died unexpectedly from natural causes in early August at the age of 65.
That started a second Democratic primary process to see who would replace him on the ballot. Four candidates initially filed — Farr, Mackey, Pressley and Angela Gary Addison.
Mackey is a senior project advisor at NP Strategy, a public relations firm. During the race, she said her focus on the council would be to improve local infrastructure for the area. Mackey said the district is growing fast, and improvements need to be made to handle the influx of new residents.
Mackey also voiced support for transparency in the county’s penny tax roads program and better management of the program’s funds.
This story was originally published September 22, 2020 at 9:26 PM.
