MOUNT PLEASANT — Mayor Will Haynie will have one challenger on the November ballot, a newcomer who has never served in local government before.
Curt Thomas, a U.S. Air Force veteran and former South Carolina state trooper, was the only candidate to come forward before filing closed at noon Aug. 18.
Haynie is seeking a third term as leader of the state’s fourth-largest municipality.
Thomas is a longtime Mount Pleasant resident. He is also an author and leadership consultant, and leads a fitness coaching program. This is his first bid for elected office.
Curt Thomas
“My promise is simple: I will work alongside my fellow council members to put our neighborhoods first and protect what makes Mount Pleasant unique,” Thomas said in a statement to The Post and Courier.
Haynie was first elected to Mount Pleasant’s council in 2015 and successfully ran for mayor in 2017, beating incumbent Linda Page. He was re-elected for the second time in 2021.
Will Haynie
Haynie announced his re-election campaign in June, vowing to run a grassroots campaign focused on talking one-on-one with voters and to “protect, plan and restore Mount Pleasant,” he said in a campaign announcement video shared to social media.
The two-term mayor was a supporter of restricting building permits and short-term rentals. Recently, he’s been vocal about staving off a proposed two-lane parkway in Laurel Hill County Park, a one-mile road that’s a segment of Charleston County’s Highway 41 expansion.
Haynie’s picked up a handful of endorsements early on in the race from council members Gary Santos, Howard Chapman, Jake Rambo, Laura Hyatt and Mike Tinkey.
Also up for election this November are four council seat, with incumbents Santos, Tinkey and John Iacofano seeking additional terms. Councilwoman G.M. Whitley did not file for re-election.
They will face candidates Perry Rourk, a business owner and former member of the town’s Recreation Advisory Commission; Brianna Harmon, a business consultant; Craig Russack, a former police officer; Kathryn Whitaker, a marketing professional and member of the town’s Culture, Arts and Pride Commission; and residents Jenny DeSart and Alexandra Crosby.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
