Alan Perry wins Hilton Head Island mayoral runoff election

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (WTOC) - Voters on Hilton Head Island have selected Alan Perry as their new mayor.

Unofficial election results from Tuesday’s runoff show Alan Perry with 56% of the vote while JoAnn Orischak had about 44% of the vote.

Back in November, neither candidates cleared the 50% percent majority mark which is why the race went to a runoff.

Perry ran for Hilton Head mayor four years ago. Back then, he fell a few percentage points shy of a runoff. But now, four years later, he’s come out on top of his own extended election and while the weight of the win is yet to sink in, the notifications certainly haven’t.

“My phones been blowing up starting at 6 o’clock this morning. I’ve had 200 and some texts to respond to, numerous emails, and I haven’t even gotten to Facebook yet,” Perry said.

Over 8,600 voters cast a ballot in this runoff, with 56 percent of them choosing the lifetime Hilton Head resident as their next leader.

“It means that they realize I care about this community and the residents of it, and the people of it. Not just those that live here, but also those that don’t live here,” Perry said.

Perry said he’ll prioritize housing, redevelopment, and communication.

“I think it’s important to be able to return those phone calls and return those texts and let those people know, I hear you. And the team, as the council will be a team, that we hear and what we’re working for is the betterment and your voice for the community,” Perry said.

His swearing in ceremony will be Dec. 6, but the work starts before then he said he is already scheduling meetings for next week to get to know his council.

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