Tag: Autry Benton

Autry Benton’s Challenge for Senate District 33

Just over a week ago, Autry Benton announced his withdrawal from a reelection effort for Conway City Council in order to run for the state Senate seat currently held by Luke Rankin.
The announcement surprised the public, but the reason for it was even more surprising. Benton is seeking office to actually try to make a difference and help the citizens rather than the self-seeking reasons most politicians bring to their campaigns.
Benton’s announcement said he heard from Conway citizens that they were generally happy with the condition of the city. The major complaint he heard while campaigning were “about infrastructure in general and roads in particular. Benton said the solution to road problems lies in Columbia with General Assembly appropriations.
“It’s time for the necessary improvements to Horry County infrastructure to stop being ignored in Columbia. It’s time for Horry County to get a consistently strong voice for its fair share of state budget funds for roads and infrastructure,” Benton said in his announcement.
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Autry Benton Means What He Says

During his campaign to fill the unexpired term of former Conway City Council member Alex Hyman, Autry Benton used the campaign slogan “Conway First.”
Benton was successful in his special election bid and was sworn into office on July 17, 2023. Benton proved to be one of the very few politicians who keeps his campaign promises.
Benton announced last month that he wanted to cancel the contract between his company, Benton Concrete and Utilities LLC, and the City of Conway. Benton’s concrete company was contracted by the city, to perform sidewalk maintenance and repair prior to Benton’s run for office,
According to the provisions of the state ethics law pertaining to elected officials, it would have been entirely legal for Benton to continue the contract with the city. All he would have had to do as a council member was recuse himself from any council discussion about the contract or about sidewalk maintenance.
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Benton Sworn In for Conway City Council Seat

Autry Benton was sworn in as the newest member of Conway City Council before the start of the council’s regular meeting Monday night.
The oath of office was delivered by Judge Alex Hyman. Benton’s wife, Amanda Benton, held the Bible for the ceremony.
Benton won a special election to replace Hyman after Hyman resigned from his council office in order to accept a judgeship. Benton will finish out the remainder of Hyman’s term, which ends December 31, 2023. Benton has already announced he will be a candidate for reelection in the upcoming November 7, 2023 non-partisan general election for Conway City Council.
A short reception was held immediately after the ceremony for Family and friends to greet and congratulate Benton.

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Benton Defeats Brown in Conway Special Election Runoff

Above: Autry Benton with wife Amanda
Autry Benton defeated Kendall Brown in yesterday’s special runoff election to fill the seat vacated when former city council member Alex Hyman resigned to accept a judgeship. Benton garnered 760 votes in the runoff to Brown’s 726.
Brown led the first leg of voting with 428 votes to Benton’s 401. Three other candidates in the special election first round were eliminated.
The runoff drew approximately 200 more voters than the first round of voting June 13, 2023, when there were five candidates in the race. Election commission members commented that both rounds of voting went very smoothly with no problems experienced.
Benton’s margin of 34 votes was slim but in excess of the one percent difference between candidates which would have required a recount.

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Conway Special Election Runoff Pits Benton v. Brown

Voters in the City of Conway will go to the polls Tuesday June 27, 2023 to elect a new member to city council in a special election runoff between Autry Benton and Kendall Brown.
Brown led Benton by a 428-401 margin in the first round of voting June 13, 2023. However, 462 votes were cast for three other candidates who were knocked out in the first round. The first round of voting saw 1,297 ballots cast, approximately 9% of the registered voters in the city. All registered voters are eligible to vote in the runoff regardless of whether they participated or not in the first round of voting.
Brown, an African-American candidate, drew approximately 61% of his votes from Racepath #1 and #2. two predominantly African-American precincts in the city, as well as early voting. Benton’s support was more widely spread among the city’s 13 voting precincts. He also outdrew the other three candidates in the Racepath precincts.
Both candidates said they were reaching to all citizens in the city for support.

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Conway City Council Special Election Candidates

Grand Strand Daily reached out to the five candidates for the vacant Conway City Council seat that will be contested in a special election Tuesday June 13, 2023. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The candidates were asked to provide basic background information such as family, education, church membership, military service and experience. In addition, candidates were asked to provide a short answer why they were running for city council and to explain what issues they felt were most important for council to address.
Candidates Autry Benton, Kendall Brown, April O’Leary and Tyler Thomas responded. Candidate Bill Wiegand did not. Capsules from the candidates’ responses are listed below in alphabetical order.
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Autry Benton Kicks Off Campaign for Conway City Council

(Autry Benton, center, flanked by wife, Amanda and Leslie McIver)

Autry Benton kicked off his campaign for Conway City Council with an event at 104 Laurel St. in downtown Conway last night.
Benton is running in the special election to finish out the term of Alex Hyman who resigned his council seat March 20, 2023 in order to accept a position as a circuit judge. A special election will be held June 13, 2023 to fill the vacant seat.
Benton had a good turnout of voters to his inaugural event and support from some elected officials including Horry County Treasurer Angie Jones, Horry County Council Chairman Johnny Gardner and Horry County Council member and former Conway City Council member Tom Anderson. Also on hand were former Horry County School Board Chairman Ken Richardson, former Conway City Council member Leslie McIver and former Horry County Council member Orton Bellamy.
Benton spoke of how this will be his second attempt running for a Conway City Council seat. He just missed out in the general election of 2021, but the experience of running two years ago increased his desire to serve the citizens of Conway.
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Conway Voters to Elect Three for City Council

Conway voters will go to the polls November 2nd to elect three members of city council from seven candidates running for office.
Incumbent council members William Goldfinch and Shane Hubbard are running for reelection. Incumbent Jean Timbes is not seeking reelection leaving one open seat to be contested.
Candidates Beth Helms, Julie Hardwick, Autry Benton, Amanda Butler and Danny R. Hardee round out the field.
In general, residents in Conway seem satisfied with the way city issues have been managed for the past six years or so. Growth is happening but not at the frenetic pace seen in other parts of the county. Crime is always an issue but not nearly as severe as in Myrtle Beach, for example.
Conway has had issues with flooding, but city council has taken a proactive approach to mitigating where possible. Areas of the city will continue to flood when heavy rain events occur, both in the local area as well as southeastern North Carolina because nature cannot be controlled. However, council continues to work on projects to minimize its effects on residents and businesses as much as possible.
A proposal to build a southern bypass road connecting highway 701 with highway 544 just past the Conway Medical Center will help with congestion now experienced on 501 through Conway as well as providing another route for emergency vehicles to the medical center.
All of this means that Goldfinch and Hubbard should be able to look forward to a relatively smooth road to reelection. But no one can actually predict what voters will do when they enter the voting booth.
Residents I have spoken to seem to prefer replacing Timbes with another woman candidate. Conway has a history of electing women to city council and mayor. It is generally felt women bring a unique perspective to the table that can add to debate on the issues.

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