City Elections 2025: What’s on the ballot in Greenville County and Why it Matters

Is your local government election slipping under your radar? Don't let it! City elections are critical for every aspect of your daily life, and you need to be informed and involved.

In this episode of Simple Civics: Greenville County, Katy Smith and Nathaniel DeSantis break down everything you need to know about this year's crucial city elections in Greenville County, SC.

While presidential elections grab headlines, the local city elections impact your life directly, from zoning laws to parks, police, and fire services.

Learn why your vote in these "odd-numbered year" elections matters so much and how you can make a difference, whether you're running for office or simply want to support a candidate.

Featured in this Episode:

• The Unseen Impact of City Elections: Discover how city councils in Travelers Rest, Greer, Greenville, Mauldin, Simpsonville, and Fountain Inn govern vital services and ordinances that affect your daily life. We'll discuss real-world examples like Greenville's public sleeping ordinance, Travelers Rest annexation debates, Simpsonville's stormwater challenges, and Mauldin's exciting new developments like Bridgeway Station and a future stadium. Even the Greenville Water System has an elected commissioner on the ballot this year!

• What's On the Ballot & Who's Running: Get clarity on city council seats, fire districts, and public works commissions across Greenville County. Learn about the unique structures in cities like Greenville (at-large vs. district), Mauldin (all at-large with seat numbers), and Travelers Rest (all at-large). We'll reveal the current candidate landscape for partisan elections in the City of Greenville and explain how and when candidates file for the other cities.

• Your Path to Public Service: How to Run for Office: Feeling inspired? Katy and Nathaniel share six essential steps for aspiring candidates, drawing on nearly 200 episodes of insights. This includes understanding the role, balancing family and job, building a support network, mastering campaign finance rules, securing technical campaign support, and getting the word out to voters.

• Amplify Your Voice: How to Support a Candidate: If running isn't for you, there are still powerful ways to contribute! Learn about hosting meet-and-greets, displaying yard signs, door-knocking, donating, and using social media to rally support. Your participation, no matter how small, makes our community stronger.

Transcript

Katy Smith: [0:00] Simple Civics listeners, before we get into today's show, we want to invite you to a party. We're celebrating our 200th episode of Simple Civics Greenville County with a special live recording. We hope you'll drop by the studio on Tuesday, June 24th between 8:30 and 10 a.m. We will be featuring questions from listeners and we invite you to share what's on your mind. Visit SimpleCivicsGreenvilleCounty.org for the details and to sign up. This episode of Simple Civics Greenville County is brought to you by Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, providing free books to children zero to five throughout Greenville County. To sign up, visit GreenvilleFirstSteps.org/freebooks. That's GreenvilleFirstSteps.org/freebooks.

Katy Smith: [0:49] It is an odd numbered year, so you are not likely thinking about elections, right? We just elected the president in 2024, and some of you are anticipating 2026 when Senator Lindsey Graham is up for re-election, someone new will fill the governor's seat, and our South Carolina House and Senate members are up for re-election again. But, friends, civics never stops. And this year, if you live in the cities of Travelers Rest, Greer, Greenville, Mauldin, Simpsonville, or Fountain Inn within Greenville County, you likely need to go to the polls. And maybe some of you listening are interested in running for a city council seat yourself. I'm Katy Smith with Greater Good Greenville. And on this episode of Simple Civics Greenville County, we will talk about this year's city elections. Our producer, Nathaniel DeSantis, and I will cover what's on the ballot, why it matters, and how you can get involved. Please take a listen, share it with your friends, take part in this year's civic process, and mark your calendar to vote on Tuesday, November 4th, 2025.

Nathaniel DeSantis: [1:54] Welcome back to the podcast, everyone. It's another episode of Katy and I sitting down and talking about elections, a topic that we talk about regularly on the podcast if you've tuned in before. And it's an odd year, which might make you think, why are you talking about this? And this might catch people by surprise, but city council and other municipal elections do come up in the odd years. And they're just as important, though, as the even-year elections, which tend to sometimes overshadow the odd-year elections. So, Katy, why do these odd-year elections matter?

Katy Smith: [2:28] They matter so much because city councils govern our six cities within Greenville County. It includes land use and zoning, parks and recreation, business licenses, police and fire, and so many vital services and ordinances that affect our lives on the daily. You might even be a listener who doesn't live in a city, but this matters for you, too. You might work within a city. You might get health care within a city. You probably enjoy festivals or museums or theatrical experiences within one of our cities, or your kids may go to school within city limits. So here's just a few examples to make this real. Just this week, the city of Greenville had on its agenda an ordinance to ban public sleeping or camping as a means to deal with homelessness. It brought a packed council chambers of the public interested in this issue. Even if you don't live in the city of Greenville, that's something that might have been of interest to you. Earlier this year, the City of Travelers Rest was considering annexation of property on Paris Mountain, where a hotel was proposed. Lots of people who don't live in TR were interested in that topic. The city of Simpsonville has been dealing with stormwater runoff. Mauldin has recently opened the popular Bridgeway Station and will have a new stadium in 2026, bringing entertainment, visitors, revenue, traffic.

Katy Smith: [3:46] And, of course, the Greenville Water System, which has an elected commissioner of public works on the ballot for many people this year, had to deal with wildfires near the reservoir just a few months ago. And no worries, our delicious drinking water was okay. But the point is, these municipal elections matter.

Katy Smith: [4:04] If you don't live in the city, if you can't vote there, you can get involved in an election another way. So I'm so glad we're talking about this.

Nathaniel DeSantis: [4:11] And so what's on the ballot this year?

Katy Smith: [4:13] Well, we have, as I mentioned, each of the city councils have some seats up. So that is, again, Fountain Inn, Greer, Greenville, Mauldin, Simpsonville, Travelers Rest. And then there's some fire districts and public works commissions in different parts of the county that have seats up for office. So again, you might not live in any of these cities or fire district areas, but I suspect you experience something in every one of them over the course of the year. So these entities are set up so that half the seats in any given year are up for re-election, which is helpful because you want to have some continuity from year to year, as some of the seats change, but others remain the same. So let's get specific here. And we have covered this a couple years ago now in a previous podcast, I think, but it's really relevant this year. So I'll recap it. In Greenville, in the city of Greenville, there are two at-large council members, which means everyone votes for them that live within the city and they represent the whole city. And then we have four district representatives that are restricted kind of by neighborhoods in the city. So when you go to vote this year, you'll get to vote for an at-large member as well as whichever area you live in if one of those seats is up. Now Greer, Fountain Inn, and Simpsonville have geographic districts only, no at-large members. So residents who live in one of those geographic areas whose council seat is up will get to vote.

Katy Smith: [5:40] Mauldin and Travelers Rest do it a little bit differently. In Mauldin, there are six city council seats, but they have no correspondence to geography. So everyone in the city gets to vote for any of the seats. They're all at large. But as a candidate, you have to pick which of the seats you are running for. And I said this the last time we did this episode. For me, it makes me think of musical chairs. You could imagine a candidate going in and say, all right, I'm going to run for seat three, which, as I said, doesn't have a geographic connection to a part of a city. And I'll find out who else is running for seat three or four or one. So you could imagine that a bunch of people might pick number two or number one because that's their lucky number. And everyone's running for that same seat. I don't quite get how it fully works, but half of those seats are up, and everyone in Mauldin gets to vote for them.

Katy Smith: [6:28] Travelers Rest has a different way, again, of doing it. They have eight council members, and all of the seats are at large, meaning everyone in the city gets to vote for them. Four are up at a time in these odd years, so four are up this year. When you go in to vote, you're going to pick four people. And if there's five people or six or seven people, the top four vote-getters are the ones that get to be on the council. So all of this works so that the whole council isn't turning over all at once. So I just want to observe again the way at-large seats work versus these geographically restrictive seats. When you have at-large seats, the pro of this is that people are there to work with the whole city's interest in mind, and they're not going to focus only on what a particular neighborhood or area wants to the detriment of other neighborhoods. That's the benefit of an at-large seat. But you could end up, if the whole council is at-large, with most of the representatives happening to come from one geographic area could make those other areas feel unrepresented. If you have only geographically restricted areas, then the benefit is you make sure every part of the city is covered, everyone gets a say, but it could also mean that people act in a bit of an isolationist way and not operate with the city's whole interests in mind. And I'm truly not suggesting that's the case in any of our cities, but theoretically that's something that could happen. So that's the pros and cons of this.

Nathaniel DeSantis: [7:52] Who is on the ballot this year?

Katy Smith: [7:54] So we know which seats are on the ballot, but the who we don't really know yet, at least for five of those six cities. Candidates don't file to run until filing opens mid-July and closes on August 15th at noon. So there might be candidates out there who are considering it and who have told their family and friends they plan to run or might have put it on social media. But we, the general public, do not yet know who they are. Again, that's true for five of the cities, but not the city of Greenville. We do know who's running in the city of Greenville. And that is because Greenville's elections are partisan. Candidates file as a member of a party. So candidates had to file back in March. And that was so that we knew if a primary was needed, if there were candidates in the same party to kind of duke it out to see who would make it on the ballot in November.

Katy Smith: [8:44] It just so happens, though, that this year in the city of Greenville, there is no intraparty competition. No one, no two Republicans or two Democrats or two Libertarians filed to run, thus requiring a primary. And some races have no competition at all. So real quick, let me share. In the city of Greenville, Russell Stahl, who's been the at-large, one of the at-large representatives, he's not running again. And so for that seat, Matt Alexander, who's a Republican, and Tina Belgey, who's a Democrat, have filed to run, and they will face off in November. District 2, which is a geographic district that curves around the west and southern edge of the city, has been represented by Democrat Lillian Brock Fleming since 1981. She is running for re-election, and Republican Mike Kilgore has filed to run against her in November. District 4, which runs through the center of the city, which includes kind of the Gower, Verde, Greenville Country Club, Alta Vista neighborhoods, has been represented by Republican Will Brasington, and he has no opposition. So his name will be on the ballot, and you can press the button for him if you live in that area. And then we also have a Public Works Commissioner, Deb Sofield, who's filed to run and she has no contest for her re-election. But for everyone else in other cities who are planning to run either new or for re-election, you should be in that preparation phase now. And we will know who you are when you file with the election office and show up on the State Election Commission's list of candidates.

Nathaniel DeSantis: [10:12] So then if someone is thinking about running or if they're listening to the podcast and suddenly decide that this is their calling, what should they be doing?

Katy Smith: [10:22] Well, I hope someone is feeling inspired and ready to serve. We have gotten a lot of insights, you and me, Nathaniel. We could open a business coaching people to run for office. We've done nearly 200 episodes and so many with candidates, current elected officials and people who work closely with them. And so I would sum up what we have learned in this way.

Katy Smith: [10:43] First, familiarize yourself with the role of the office and the duties associated with it. And by that, I don't just mean read the job description or have gone to some council meeting in the past. Go to council meetings on the regular. Go to committee meetings on the regular. Get a real feel for what the job looks like and the time it takes. Go a step further and speak with current or former elected officials in that office to the extent you're comfortable doing so, to really get what it looks like and feels like to get constituent calls, to go to ribbon cuttings, to do all of the things that fall outside of the meeting schedule itself. It is appropriately a lot of work to serve on a council. And too often I see people come into it or at county council or school board who are not really, haven't really done the work to prepare themselves for what it takes. Second, or simultaneously, be sure you discover what fits of those responsibilities with your family and your job. Will your work allow you to be at a called committee meeting at three o'clock on a workday? Are your spouse or your kids okay with you being at a council meeting until 9 p.m. or having to chat with angry constituents on a Saturday afternoon? I do not say this to dissuade you. I say it so that you know it and your experience can be better because you're prepared for it and your family's experience can be better.

Katy Smith: [12:11] Third, I think you should really talk to those whose support you will need to be successful. And by that, I mean neighborhood and community leaders whose endorsements you will want and people who can donate to or volunteer for your campaign. I'm sure there are candidates who go this alone and are successful, but you will be so much more successful. And honestly, you will represent the kind of council member I hope you want to be by making it an us thing and not just a you thing.

Katy Smith: [12:42] Fourth, before you collect the first dollar to finance your campaign, understand the rules around campaign finance. We recently did a really helpful episode with Leigh McGill of Campaign Ethics Reporting Services on this exact topic. And it is a must listen if you are thinking about running. You do not want to get into trouble. And knowing the rules and reporting requirements will help keep you out of it. Fifth, figure out how you are going to get the technical support that you need. You're going to need a website or social media. You'll probably want signs. You might want door hangers. You'll need help throwing parties. You'll need to get those signs out into people's yards. You may wish to hire a campaign manager, or you're going to want to line up a team of volunteer helpers, or you might want to do it yourself. But again, I think we can say having interviewed maybe 150 candidates for local and state offices, it's a really big endeavor, and you need to have a plan for it. And sixth, I think you're going to need to get the word out. The sad thing about local municipal elections is they can suffer from really low turnout because it is just not on people's radar. You need to be responsible for getting it on their radar by knocking on their door, by calling them, asking them to put out a sign, reminding them to vote.

Nathaniel DeSantis: [13:59] And I'll just hop in here and add a few thoughts myself. Well, first of all, to go off point six, to get the word out, if only there was a podcast that reached hundreds of thousands of people a year. So get on Simple Civics. I mean, we do these with candidates all the time. It's free to do. We don't have any gotcha questions. If you listen to past episodes, it's the same question for every candidate. So it's a great opportunity to reach those people. And we also have two really great episodes that we've done that can be a super helpful resource. The first was with Derek Lewis, who's been on a few times. He's the current chair of Greater Good Greenville, the nonprofit behind Simple Civics Greenville County, and a former elected official where he talked with you a few years ago about how to really support a candidate. And that had tons of great tips for candidates and donors and volunteers. And we interviewed him and John Michael Catalano, who is a public information officer for the South Carolina Election Commission about Election Day behind the scenes. Both of those are great resources if you're considering running. And then just to reiterate what Katy has said, I am at a point in my life, I'm 28 now, which is crazy because Katy, when we met, I was 24.

Katy Smith: [15:16] I trusted you so much at your young age to lead this podcast.

Nathaniel DeSantis: [15:21] Exactly. Crazy looking back. But I'm at that age where my friends are starting to get interested in local politics. And I always tell them the first thing that you said, which is understand what local offices actually do and go to council meetings. And I think that's kind of the most important thing. How are you supposed to know what the job entails if you don't go to it? And it's free. It's every other Tuesday at a pretty decent time. And if you can't make it to that, then, you know, maybe being a local elected official might not be the best for you, but definitely go and observe it and see what it's actually like. I remember the first time I was there, I thought it was a very cool experience, but that could just be the political science nerd in me coming out.

Katy Smith: [16:05] I'm so glad you said that. And really, if you are listening and you're thinking, oh, that's a good point. I've never been. Or even if you don't want to run, but you're just curious, each of these cities, the school board, county, has very clearly on the website exactly what its calendar is, when to go, where to show up. So be sure to check it out.

Nathaniel DeSantis: [16:23] Yeah. And one last thing that I'll move on to the next question, Katy, but I mean, there was a point where I was interested in a board. And I know that's not exactly what we're talking about, but you gave me the advice, which was to call the current board member and ask them about it. And this is the same advice. I mean, call and see what it's like. Maybe not the person you'll be running against, maybe the seat next to you, but you know, figure out from their point of view what it's like, what surprised them. I even think we did an interview with Benton Blount talking about, you know, what it was like getting into office for the first time so even listen to that and see what you're signing up for and getting involved.

Katy Smith: [17:02] That's good. Let's put in the show notes an episode we did with Liz Semen about serving on a board or commission. We've done a couple of those I think. If you are not sure yet about running for office, being on a board or commission is a great way to start. So that's a really good note, Nathaniel.

Nathaniel DeSantis: [17:19] Thank you. You know, second to last question, what if I am not running for office, but I want to help?

Katy Smith: [17:27] The episode we just mentioned about how to really support a candidate is your go-to guide. But the short answer of what that includes is you can hold a meet and greet for a candidate to get to know voters. And this can really be as simple as like having people come and grab a cup of lemonade in your front yard and letting neighbors drop by. It does not have to be a fancy party that you even have to clean your house for. You can put up a sign in your yard for a candidate. You can help knock on doors to let people know you support them. Donating money is really important. I mean, honestly, that's probably the most important thing you can do because that's what helps buy those signs, helps pay for that lemonade, all those things. You can post on social media for a candidate you believe in. And generally, just remind your friends and neighbors and coworkers to go and vote this year if they live in a city. People just don't know enough and you don't even have to say who you're voting for. You might even be someone who doesn't live in a city and can't vote, but reminding people that they might have the opportunity is super important.

Nathaniel DeSantis: [18:28] Yeah. And I mentioned this on many episodes that Katy and I have recorded together. But from my experience working with campaigns and on campaigns, when it comes to meet and greets for the candidates to get to know the voters, there's no such thing as too few people that can show up. If only five people show up, I mean, we had some events for very successful campaigns where four or five people showed up. And you might think that might not be enough to motivate people to vote, but those four or five people will remember that either you or your friend that's running or someone you know is running made the effort to come and talk to those four, five, six individuals because they care, right? Because it shows that they're committed and putting in the interest. So I really do think those meet and greets can be super helpful. And, you know, as annoying as signs can be for candidates, if they didn't work, we wouldn't see them. There's a reason we see them everywhere. So put those signs up. Put them in your front yard.

Katy Smith: [19:28] Such a good point.

Nathaniel DeSantis: [19:29] I got to say, I'm excited for this election season. I'm super excited to see who's going to come on the podcast that we're going to interview. And maybe we inspire you. If we did, let us know when you come on the podcast. But Katy, what's ahead for us?

Katy Smith: [19:43] Yeah. Well, as you mentioned earlier, we will do our interviews with candidates. And so everybody knows what we do is when the election filing closes, which will be August 15th, we pull in every candidate's filing form. We reach out to them at their email address that they put on that filing form, and we invite them all at the same time with the exact same information and questions and details on their recording session. As Nathaniel said, we don't have gotcha questions. This is just an opportunity for you, the listeners, to meet the candidates who you have the opportunity to vote for. So if you're a candidate, anticipate you will be getting that invitation or if you're a prospective candidate. And then we'll be pushing those episodes out as the election approaches. It could be that we don't have even that many episodes if there aren't contested seats, because we really do them for when there's opposition and you have to make a choice. So I'm really excited to see who we will have the opportunity to talk to. But regardless, I mean, you and I are always so encouraged to see people raising their hands to serve, no matter their political perspective, because civic engagement is what makes our community great. And that includes any of you listening right now, getting involved, even if it's just showing up at the ballot box. So thank you for listening. And Nathaniel, thanks for this conversation and being such a great partner in helping get the word out about local government.

Nathaniel DeSantis: [21:06] Always love contributing to the discussion. And thank you, Katy, for all the contributions for the podcast, for the community, because it's really, I mean, we see the stats. It's helped a lot of people understand civics in Greenville County. And thank you guys for listening. If you liked this one, don't forget to share it with a friend. And then sign up for the newsletter because we'll update you when those candidate interviews come around. But otherwise, I think that's all for today's episode. We'll see you again next week. Hi, Simple Civics Greenville County listeners. Nathaniel here. If you've made it this far, then we think you'll really love our newsletter. Sign up for bonus content, updates, and more right in your inbox. Look for the link in the description that says newsletter to sign up. Or visit us at simplecivicsgreenvillecounty.org. Find the link in the menu that says newsletter and sign up there. We'll see you again next week.

Catherine Puckett: Simple Civics: Greenville County is a project of Greater Good Greenville. Greater Good Greenville was catalyzed by the merger of the Nonprofit Alliance and the Greenville Partnership for Philanthropy. You can learn more on our website at greatergoodgreenville.org.