ROCKVILLE -- None of the candidates on the ballot in this secluded waterfront Charleston County town had anything to worry about Tuesday.

Mayor Mary Ann Cates ran unopposed, and only three candidates filed for the four Town Council seats.

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Election Commission Chairman Mark Hunt said recently that the seat might remain vacant.

Other possibilities included the seat being won in a write-in campaign, or perhaps someone who didn't want the office would be elected by write-in votes.

But fishing guide and boat repairman Brad Rumph put all that to rest. He concluded recently he should "do my part to help the town" and campaigned door to door. When the votes were counted, 41 of the 56 voters who turned out Tuesday wrote in Rumph, even though balloting was done on electronic machines.

Rumph got 21 percent of the total council votes cast and will serve with Allen Holmes and Zachary Nelson, who each got 27 percent, and Henry Holst, who got 24 percent, according to unofficial results.

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