Pending certification of results of the municipal special election held on Tuesday, December 12, Mayor-Elect Phil Cromer will be sworn in as mayor of the City of Beaufort at a Special Meeting of City Council on Tuesday, December 19th, at 5 p.m.
The Beaufort County Board of Elections and Voter Registration is expected to meet on Thursday, Dec. 14, to certify the election results.
The special election was held to fill the unexpired term of former Mayor Stephen Murray, who resigned from office in September. Cromer ran against former City Council Member Mike Sutton in the non-partisan race. This term will expire next December.
“Staff is doing everything we can to be sure Mayor Cromer is prepared to jump in with his fellow council members and be productive as soon as he takes office,” said City Manager Scott Marshall. “We’ve already set some time aside this week to get together to review the most immediate issues he will face.”
Mayor-elect Cromer served on City Council from 2014 to 2022. He has a B.A. degree from the University of South Carolina (USC), and a joint Master’s degree from USC and the College of Charleston. He has an Associate in Risk Management from the Insurance Institute of America. He is also a U.S. Army veteran.
Cromer has previously served as the town administrator of Ridgeland, South Carolina and town manager of Port Royal, South Carolina. He was also a risk management consultant for the Municipal Association of South Carolina.
He and his wife, Amelie, have two daughters and four grandchildren. He is a docent at Beaufort History Museum, president of the Beaufort County Historical Society, and president of St. Andrew’s Society of the Lowcountry.
