McGhaney out as Sumter school board member after 11 years

Though it isn’t clear who it will be yet, Sumter School District’s District 4 seat will have a new representative after Daryl McGhaney did not make it into the top two of voting totals on Tuesday.

Challengers Tarah Cousar Johnson and Monica Squires will battle in a runoff in two weeks after they were the top vote-getters in the District 4 race on Sumter’s school board.

According to unofficial election-night totals, Johnson earned 36.63% of the new district’s vote, or 1,118 ballots. Squires took 32.27%, or 985 votes. Voting includes absentee ballots and early voting.

Votes will be made official on Friday, according to the Sumter County Voter Registration and Elections Office, once failsafe votes are considered, though those are not often more than a handful.

McGhaney, who had served on the board for 11 years, earned 19.36% of the vote, or 591 votes, for third place.

Challenger Leon Winn earned 11.27% of the vote for a fourth-place finish.

The runoff election will be on Tuesday, Nov. 22.

Johnson said she was happy to be the overall top vote getter and now advance to the runoff.

“I am extremely excited and appreciative for the support I received on Tuesday,” she said. “For sure, the results demonstrated that the voters understand that I am an advocate for students, schools and communities. Giving the upcoming runoff, there is still much work to be done.”

Squires said she has had a grassroots campaign, going door-to-door many times, and looks forward to the next two weeks.

“I am very happy to be in the top two vote-getters,” she said. “I am going to just get out there and talk to people as I have been doing, literally door to door. If God wants me to get this, it will happen. It’s all in God’s will. I really want the position because I care about our students and our teachers and we need to improve in those areas.”

District 4 represents the rural, eastern portion of Sumter County to include Mayesville and Shiloh and other areas.

McGhaney served on the consolidated board since its inception. Prior to that, he was on the former Sumter School District 2 Board of Trustees.

Sumter school board moved to nine single-member districts for this election and moving forward. Previously, the board was seven single-member districts and two at-large seats.