Rock Hill 2021 mayor’s race heats up. Here’s what to know about the three candidates
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Rock Hill’s Mayoral Election 2021
Rock Hill’s mayoral election is Oct. 19. Here’s what the three candidates said about the Panthers development, gentrification and their visions for the city.
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Rock Hill’s 2021 mayoral race is Tuesday. How to vote for your choice of 3 candidates
Rock Hill 2021 mayor’s race heats up. Here’s what to know about the three candidates
Rock Hill 2021 mayor’s race: What to know about York County Councilman Bump Roddey
Rock Hill 2021 mayor’s race: What to know about conservative candidate Ishmael Lowery
Rock Hill 2021 mayor’s race: What to know about incumbent John Gettys
Rock Hill’s mayoral election looks similar to the race residents experienced in 2017.
There are three candidates. Two of them are familiar, plus a newcomer. Throughout the last several months, there’s been Facebook rants. Video attacks. And even, tears.
York County Councilman William “Bump” Roddey ran against Mayor John Gettys in 2017 — when the city elected its first new mayor in two decades to replace Doug Echols. After neither candidate secured a majority, Roddey and Gettys faced off in a runoff.
Roddey lost to Gettys by 515 votes.
When Roddey announced his plan to run again, five months before the Oct. 19 election day, he cried. He said at a news conference in May that he had reservations about running again, but after he contracted COVID-19 earlier that year, he knew he had to.
“If I didn’t put my name in the hat, God should’ve called me home that day,” Roddey said, amid his own tears.
In June, Gettys announced his reelection campaign in a video. He touted the numerous development projects finalized during his time, including the most notable 240-acre Carolina Panthers’ headquarters project.
“That started because I wrote a letter to the new owner and invited him to relocate his spring training camp to Rock Hill,” Gettys said.
In July, newcomer Ishmael Lowery, a self-proclaimed conservative, joined the race.
Since then, the candidates have participated in numerous forums. They’ve all held campaign events. Some turned to Facebook to criticize opponents, prompting responses in defense.
And The Herald’s individual interviews with the three candidates reflect the friction points.
We posed the same five questions to all the candidates. We touched on disagreements, and the three candidates subtly — and not-so-subtly — poked at their opponents. The responses are posted here.
The city’s mayoral race is on Oct. 19. Polls will open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.
Absentee voting began on Sept. 20. All ballots must be returned to the York County elections office, 6 S. Congress St., by 7 p.m. on Oct. 19.
A runoff would be held on Nov. 2 if needed.
Due to space limits, Sunday’s printed edition of The Herald will publish candidates’ responses to only three question. To see the complete interviews, visit heraldonline.com.
This story was originally published October 14, 2021 at 9:46 AM.
