Joe Riley wins 10th term as Charleston mayor

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Charleston Mayor Joe Riley has swept to victory winning a 10th, and final, term as mayor of the city he has led through an urban renaissance in recent decades.

Riley, mayor longer than anyone in Charleston’s almost 350-year history, defeated four opponents Tuesday without the need for a run off in the race he said would be his last.

Riley beat city councilman William Dudley Gregorie, journalist David Farrow, teacher Craig Jelks and restaurant manager Joshua Kennedy.

Riley was leading Gregorie, his nearest opponent, by a more than 2-1 margin with about 30 percent of the precincts reporting and told his supporters that “we’re cruising to victory.”

It was a reference to the sometimes heated debate over the city’s expanded cruise industry that was an issue in the campaign.