Frank E. Willis

Infobox Senator | name=Frank E. Willis


nationality=American
jr/sr and state=Mayor of Florence, South Carolina
party=Democrat
term=1995–2009
preceded=Haigh Porter (1991-1995)
succeeded=Unknown (2009-2013)
date of birth=Birth date and age|1941|10|19|mf=y
place of birth=Bennettsville, South Carolina
dead=alive
date of death=
place of death=
spouse= Marguerite Smith Willis

Frank E. Willis (born October 19, 1941) is the mayor of Florence, South Carolina. His administration has been widely praised for ushering in an era of economic expansion over the past ten years as the city of Florence has rapidly grown into a regional business hub for the eastern Carolinas, especially in the areas of health care and financial services.

Prior to serving as mayor, Willis was a successful local businessman who chaired the Florence County Economic Development Authority. In 1980, he co-founded the South Carolina Transportation Policy and Research Council. As a conservative member of the Democratic Party, he has been an ardent supporter of both Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Leadership Council.

In 1994, Willis defeated former Mayor Rocky Pearce and won the Democratic Party's mayoral nomination. He then went on to defeat the Republican nominee, City Councilman John Chase, in the general election. Due to a slight change in election law, however, Mayor Willis's initial term was extended through 1998, allowing him to win re-election in 2000 and then again in 2004. He is currently serving his third term in office. Florence has a council-manager government, so the mayor works part-time in conjunction with the city council and the city manager. Due to local dynamics, the mayor must also work with the county council, albeit informally.

Frank Willis was raised just north of Florence in Marlboro County and graduated from Bennettsville High School. He later married Marguerite Smith and earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Carolina. For the past 35 years, Willis has served as Chairman and CEO of the Willis Construction Company, a business his father headquarted in Florence. Early in his administration, Willis used his own equipment to clear out vacant lots and wooded areas that had long been associated with gang activity.

The mayor has been very successful in attracting new businesses to Florence County, but his initiatives to curb crime, drug use and urban sprawl have been met with mixed results. In 2006, Mayor Willis unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic Party's gubernatorial nomination. He outperformed Columbia attorney C. Dennis Aughtry, but ultimately lost the primary to Tommy Moore, a longtime state senator from Aiken. Moore, in turn, was later defeated in the general election by Republican Governor Mark Sanford.

In June 2008, while seeking a fourth term in office, Willis unexpectedly lost the Democratic Party's mayoral nomination to local attorney Stephen Wukela by just one vote. Wukela, a 32-year-old graduate of both Clemson University and the George Washington University Law School, is an outspoken supporter of Barack Obama and adopted many of his campaign themes. In 2004, the progressive Wukela unsuccessfully challenged Florence's senior Republican state senator, Hugh K. Leatherman, Sr.

No Republicans have filed to run for the mayor's office in the November 2008 general election, although former Mayor Rocky Pearce has announced that he will run as an independent. Mayor Pearce, who served two consecutive terms as a Democrat from 1983-1991, currently owns his father's insurance company. Like Mayor Willis, Pearce, 56, is a conservative who once chaired the Florence County Economic Development Authority. At the age of 31, Pearce defeated incumbent Mayor Cooper Tedder (D).

An automatic municipal recount upheld Wukela's narrow victory. Citing "voter confusion", Willis then appealed that decision to the South Carolina Democratic Party, who ruled in favor of Wukela, and denied the mayor's request for another primary election. Afterwards, the mayor took the matter before a local circuit court, but the judge dismissed the case, and stated that the results from the Democratic primary were legitimate. The mayor then appealed the circuit court's decision to the South Carolina Supreme Court, but the case was similarly dismissed. In both cases, Wukela was represented by his father, who is the proprietor of the Wukela Law Firm and a prominent personal injury lawyer.

After the Supreme Court decision, Mayor Willis finally conceded the race, telling the Florence Morning News: "It's over." He has yet to offically endorse either Wukela or Pearce. When Willis's 14-year term in office expires in January 2009, he will be the third longest-serving mayor in Florence history after David H. McLeod (16 years) and Herbert Gilbert (20 years).

External links

*http://www.cityofflorence.com/council/index.html
*http://www.willisforflorence.com/
*http://www.weblync.com/willis/default.htm