With one high-profile candidate already announced, the filing period to fill the unexpired four-year term of former Orangeburg County Councilman John Rickenbacker opens Friday at noon.

Due to the Monday Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, the usual 10-day filing period will close a day later on Tuesday, Jan. 16 at noon.

Rickenbacker, the Democratic chairman of County Council for 12 years, resigned in December from the District 7 seat he’s held since 1984. He then pleaded guilty to federal charges of taking bribes from an undercover FBI agent in exchange for supporting the sale of the Regional Medical Center.

Rickenbacker was re-elected to a four-year term in November. He faced no opposition.

Willie B. Owens, the chairman of the RMC Board of Trustees and a strong opponent of any hospital sale, has announced that he will seek the council seat. He is also a longtime educator and NAACP official.

Candidates file with local party officials. Democrats file at the 149 Centre Street law office of Gerald Davis. Republicans should contact GOP Chairman Roy Lindsey at 803-536-9538 or Chester Palmer at 803-534-5189.

Write-in candidates have an additional 14 days to declare their intentions.

The special primaries, if more than one candidate files with a party, will be held Tuesday, Feb. 27, with any run-off scheduled two weeks later. If each party fields a candidate, the special general election would be held Tuesday, April 17. If only one candidate files for the seat, that person would be declared the winner outright.

District 7 includes all of the Ward 4 and Sub 2 precincts, as well as portions of Ward 1, Ward 2, Ward 5, Ward 6, Ward 9, Sub 1, Sub 3, Brookdale, Four Holes, Jamison and Whittaker. Of the 9,001 registered voters, 7,678 or 85.3 percent are black; 1,270 are white and 53 are designated “other.”

You must be logged in to comment.