Maiorano odd man out; Outside spending looms over race
By Delayna Earley
The Island News
Joshua Hower and Mary Jeans Otto will advance to a June 23 runoff after neither candidate secured a majority of the vote in the Republican primary for Beaufort County Council District 5 on Tuesday, June 9, 2026.
With all 19 precincts reporting, Hower led the three-candidate field with 822 votes, or 40.53%, according to preliminary results from the South Carolina Election Commission. Otto finished second with 677 votes, or 33.38%.
Joe Maiorano received 529 votes, or 26.08%.
Under South Carolina law, a candidate must receive more than 50% of the vote to avoid a runoff. Because no candidate reached that threshold, Hower and Otto will face off again on June 23 to determine the Republican nominee.
The winner of the runoff will advance to the November general election, where Democrat Lynn Gerson awaits. The seat is open after Beaufort County Councilman Joseph Passiment opted not to seek reelection.
The race drew additional attention in recent weeks because of significant outside spending by a political action committee that mailed campaign literature supporting several local candidates and attacking others. Hower was among the candidates supported by the PAC, while Otto was the subject of one of its negative mail pieces.
Hower said Tuesday he believes the effort may have ultimately backfired.
“I do think it hurt me,” Hower told The Island News. “It doesn’t look like it helped anybody that they said they were trying to help. I think it had the opposite results.”
Otto declined to speculate on who may have funded the campaign but acknowledged it became a significant topic throughout the race.
“We all have a feeling on who it is,” Otto said, while noting she did not want to comment further on the matter.
Hower said he entered election day feeling optimistic based on the response he received from voters throughout the campaign.
“I was feeling really positive,” Hower said. “The reception I’ve gotten at the events and on social media and talking to people across the county has been overwhelmingly positive.”
While not surprised by the runoff, Hower said the three-candidate field made it difficult for any one candidate to separate from the others.
“When you’ve got three candidates, it’s tough to differentiate yourself when you’re all running on the same kind of platform and same messaging about the same core issues that are impacting everybody,” he said.
Looking ahead, Hower said he plans to continue promoting the issues that formed the foundation of his campaign while increasing his outreach efforts across the district.
“I want to get a little bit more boots on the ground,” he said. “The messaging is solid. The policies that I’m putting forward, the platform that I’m running on, it’s what District 5 needs.”
Otto said she was pleased to secure a place in the runoff after what she described as an unpredictable race.
“We don’t get any real feedback throughout the season that we’re running,” Otto said. “Everything was up in the air. I’m just very, very happy that I am in the top two.”
Otto said she plans to increase her advertising efforts and spend more time speaking directly with community groups before the runoff election.
“I didn’t do a lot of advertising, but I think this time I will,” she said. “Now that I’m in the top two, I want to go ahead and talk to some groups in Sun City and Oldfield and so on and so forth.”
Otto, who is making her first run for elected office, said the campaign process has been rewarding despite the uncertainty that comes with a three-way race.
“I’ve learned a lot. I’ve met a lot of people, a lot of really kind people that really want to do well for Beaufort County,” she said.
District 5 includes areas east of U.S. 278 and S.C. Highway 170 in Okatie, areas south of S.C. 170 from Hogg’s Tavern to the Broad River and several neighborhoods north of the Broad River. The June 23 runoff will determine which Republican advances to face Democrat Lynn Gerson in November.
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.