FLORENCE COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — TJ Joye unofficially beat Chief Deputy Glen Kirby in the highly-contested republican primary for Florence County Sheriff.
Joye had 55% of the votes while Kirby had 45% of the votes with 100% reporting.
The republican race saw controversy in May, when Joye accused the republican party of scheduling the debate when they knew he would be out of town.
“I feel great,” Joye said. “I feel the supporters, because I’m here because of these people. They did it and God, that’s right, give God the glory, and the people who believed in me and came out and supported me.”
News13 reached out to Kirby for comment and he did not want to talk at this time.
On the democratic side, Darrin Yarborough unofficially won the race with 80% of the votes over Jody Lynch with 100% reporting.
“In this time right now people are looking for true change and true leadership and I think we projected that to them,” Yarborough said. “And that is what we’re looking to bring to the sheriff’s office.”
News13 profiled all of the candidates in both races.
All results are unofficial until all absentee ballots are counted.