The League of Women Voters of Beaufort Area and Hilton Head Island-Bluffton would like to recognize the Beaufort County candidates who have submitted their VOTE411.org responses to questions prior to the June 9 primary races.
VOTE411.org is an online resource provided by the nonpartisan League of Women Voters (LWVUS) which provides voters with information submitted by candidates. Voters can compare candidates’ positions as well as find answers to other voting questions.
All candidates in Beaufort County primary races were invited to submit their answers to VOTE411.org. Unfortunately, not all candidates took the opportunity to respond. Those that did include:
— Jay Byars (US House of Representatives, District 1)
— Francina Dantzler (US House of Representatives, District 1)
— Mac Deford (US House of Representatives, District 1)
— Max Diaz (US House of Representatives, District 1)
— Matthew Fulmer (US House of Representatives, District 1)
— Nancy Lacore (US House of Representatives, District 1)
— Mayra Rivera-Vasquez (US House of Representatives, District 1)
— Shannon DeLoach (State House of Representatives, District 121)
— Korey William (State House of Representatives, District 122)
— Ann Shippy (State House of Representative, District 123)
— Michael Andersen (Beaufort County Council, District 4)
— Thomas Grygowski (Beaufort County Council, District 4)
— Joshua Hower (Beaufort County Council, District 5)
— Mary Jeans ‘Otto’ (Beaufort County Council, District 5)
— Joe Maiorano (Beaufort County Council, District 5)
— Bill Beltz (Beaufort County Council, District 8)
— Trey Judy (Beaufort County Council, District 8)
— Kraig Gordon (Beaufort County Council, District 8)
— Beth Gillespie (Beaufort County Council, District 9)
— Elizabeth Galloway (Beaufort County Council, District 11)
— Tommy Reitz (Beaufort County Council, District 11)
If you do not see a candidate’s name on the list below, please contact them and ask them to participate – let them know that their responses help Beaufort County Voters become better informed.
A BIG Thank You to these candidates who HAVE taken the time to submit their responses to VOTE411.org.
And go to VOTE411.org and get informed.
— Catherine Forester, LWV-BA, Beaufort
Is this what passes for justice in America?
In most respects, Trump’s Iran war has been a debacle. Fuel prices have risen by nearly 50% since the start of the war, and the costs of other goods are climbing rapidly. Iran now has a stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply passes.
It also appears to retain whatever stockpile of enriched uranium it had before the war. Now Trump is talking about pursuing a deal very similar to the 2015 nuclear agreement he withdrew from in 2018. He appears to have no coherent strategy for what was supposed to be a quick and easy victory.
However, the war has achieved one notable success: it has largely pushed the Epstein files out of the headlines. Many people have already forgotten that Todd Blanche, the Acting Attorney General, argued that there should be no further releases of the Epstein files, even though nearly 3 million pages have yet to be made public. The Epstein Transparency Act, signed into law last November, requires the release of all the files, yet Blanche is suggesting that the public should be satisfied with the release of only about half of them.
In effect, this is the message the Trump administration is sending to Epstein’s victims: “The rich and powerful men who sexually abused you when you were still children will never see a courtroom or a day in prison. They are, after all, rich and powerful men, and you are, after all, nobodies who have absolutely no value to us.”
Is this what passes for justice in America?
— Peter Birschbach, Port Royal
Know the whole truth
I feel like I know a little about the position of Sheriff after marrying a former deputy of 26 years with the Sheriff’s Department. Starting with Sheriff Morgan M Cutcheon, followed by Lukas, McCleod and then Tanner. This position is extremely important for the future of Beaufort County to control ongoing growth, development and traffic. It takes a well-seasoned individual to handle the most serious of any possible event.
Certain recent articles make me think of “All is fair in Love and War” where normal rules of morality and fair play do not apply in matters of passion or conflict. Articles like those recently printed are often used when people are desperate to defeat a rival.
It is up to us to select and vote for the very best candidate for this position. It is not necessary to discredit anyone, especially if you don’t have ALL the information regarding an issue. Bits and pieces of an event do not mean it is the truth. Please make sure you investigate all the details regarding both candidates to satisfy any concerns you might have.
— Pat Harvey-Palmer, Beaufort
We have been warned*
A recent letter to this paper thought “conservative” voices were not represented herein. I beg to differ. This paper deals in the truth, first, and offers plenty of space to opposing viewpoints.
But, if by conservative that writer meant bowing in unfettered homage to the myth of unlimited growth (spelled money), then we have a problem. Just read “The Thirty Year Update” (2004) to the 1972 book “Limits to Growth.”* Now, in 2026, 54 years have passed, and just like it was ignored and panned by economists back then, today we (and especially our current political leadership) ignore the obvious, are going in reverse, and race pell mell toward climatological uncertainty.
Here in the Lowcountry, I remember the cabins on Hunting Island — all gone, along with hundreds of feet of beach. Our ocean rises and land subsides. Yet, a County Council member spoke the other day about spending penny tax transportation money (and hoping to renew it) on expanded highways to the beach — just what developers want to hear!
Looking at traffic alone, better that the Council — not in isolation, but together with regional partners all along the coast — consider a moratorium on the truly unsustainable development juggernaut. Well, at least, read the book noted, and look at your 2026 Midterm candidates of all stripes, and demand to know their position on environment and climate!
— Timothy Dodds, Lady’s Island