Sumter Today: We sit down with Mayor-Elect David Merchant

Sumter elected a new mayor on Tuesday after the general election triggered a runoff when none of the six original candidates got more than 50% of the vote.

David Merchant, a current city councilman, received more than 60% of the vote in Tuesday’s runoff, and he’ll now follow in the footsteps of Joe McElveen, Sumter’s longest-serving mayor who didn’t run for reelection after 20 years.

We sat down with Mayor-Elect David Merchant today to get to know him and learn about his hopes for Sumter as he takes on this new role.