Suggs is in as Loris mayor, council’s Vescovi is out
Mayor elect Mike Suggs, left, and Todd Harrelson in a file photo.
By DEUCE NIVEN
& JENN CAUSEY
Mike Suggs will replace Todd Harrelson as the mayor of Loris, unofficial votes from Tuesday’s municipal election show, while longtime Loris business owner Tonya Faulk Sykes will take the city council seat now held by Jan Vescovi.
Election results Tuesday, unofficial until the formal canvas of votes is held, were clear with margins wide enough to preclude any call for a recount, and no opportunity for run-offs because the city has changed its elections process.
Suggs, driving back from Conway where he received the vote totals from the Horry County Registration and Elections offices, shared credit for the win in his third try for the mayor’s job.
“Folks did a lot of hard work to support me and I really appreciate it,” Suggs said.
Suggs lost two narrow elections to Harrelson in 2019 following the death of Henry Nichols, who died while serving as mayor. That, he said, gives him some understanding of the Harrelson camp.
“I know folks on the other side are disappointed,” Suggs said. “But that’s the way it works.”
Council incumbents Joan Gause and Lewis Hardee Jr. were the top vote getters and will remain in office as the new terms begin on Jan. 1, 2024.
For more on this story see tomorrow’s Tabor-Loris Tribune in print and online.
