Alan Perry Wins Another Term as Hilton Head Island Mayor
Published November 4, 2026 at 6:16 am|By Bristol Ainsley, Staff Reporter
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — Alan Perry will stay on as mayor of Hilton Head Island after voters returned him to office Tuesday, with unofficial returns showing him at 54.49% in a field of three that also included challengers Dave Ferguson and Palmer E Simmons.
Perry, the sitting mayor of the Town of Hilton Head Island, cleared a majority of the ballots cast in the race, so no runoff is needed. The results stay unofficial until county and state election officials certify them.
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The mayor is elected at-large by voters across the whole island and sits on a seven-member town council, alongside six members who each represent a ward.
Three of those ward seats were also on Tuesday’s ballot, in Wards 2, 4 and 5. Whoever holds those ward seats now has a four-year term, with the next contest for them set for 2030.
Turnout started strong before Election Day. State election commission figures show upward of 46,000 Beaufort County residents cast early ballots in the two weeks from Oct. 19 to Oct. 31.
Traffic and infrastructure dominated the island races this fall, with candidates pointing to the U.S. 278 corridor plan as a key piece of work for the next council.
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Bristol is a staff reporter for HERE Hilton Head covering local news, community stories, and developments across Beaufort County. Bristol is committed to accurate, community-first journalism.
