Irmo voters opt for familiar faces on town council. Here’s who they picked
Voters in Irmo opted for continuity in a crowded municipal election Tuesday.
The town that straddles the Richland-Lexington county line northeast of Columbia chose from among six candidates for two open seats on town council.
Two incumbents — Gabriel Penfield and Barb Waldman — won re-election to second terms on the council.
Waldman led with 35% of the vote, and Penfield had 26%, according to preliminary results. That would be enough to win the two at-large seats.
Four other town residents — museum curator Benjamin Battiste, federal employee Adam Raynor, real estate agent Brandon Mundy and former town events committee chairman George Frazier — are all angling to replace them on the five-person council.
Frazier came closest with 17% of the vote, followed by Mundy with 6%, and Battiste and Raynor with 5% each.
Penfield, who ran for his first full term on the council after winning a special election in 2024, has been identified as the subject of an ongoing SLED investigation after being named in a criminal sexual conduct complaint in 2020.
Irmo’s mayor and two other town council seats won’t be up for re-election until 2027.
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