Carrie Chappell
Beaufort Insider is excited to announce that we will be hosting our first Candidate Forum for Beaufort City Council and Mayoral Candidates. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend on Thursday, October 17 at 6:00pm in Waterfront Park.
The forum will be open to the public and feature questions from Beaufort Insider readers. All candidates have been invited to participate:
- Mayoral Candidates:
- Current Beaufort Mayor Phil Cromer who is up for re-election since taking the oath as mayor in December 2023. Cromer also served two terms as a city councilman from 2014-2022.
- Current Councilman Josh Scallate who is challenging Cromer for the mayor’s seat. Scallate was elected as a councilman in 2022.
- City Council Candidates:
- Current Councilman Mitch Mitchell who is seeking re-election at the end of his first term as a councilman. He was elected to the seat in 2020.
- Current Councilman Neil Lipsitz was elected to the position in 2020 and is running for re-election.
- Beaufort native Josh Gibson is seeking his first election as a councilman. Josh previously served six years as chairman of the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals.
- Newcomer to Beaufort and to politics, Julie Crenshaw is running for a seat on council citing her belief that a new perspective is needed.
The first forum will be moderated by two local Beaufort residents: Reynolds Robinson, Managing Partner at Principal Advisors, and Rachel Carper, recent graduate from College of Charleston, contributor to Beaufort Insider, and owner of Rachel Carper Media, LLC.
We are asking for your input to prepare questions for the candidates. All candidates will be asked to answer all questions during the forum. Please fill out this form to submit questions, and to indicate the local issue that is most important to you.
