Author: Paul Gable

Republican Nomination to Mark Lazarus

Mark Lazarus earned the Republican nomination for Horry County Council chairman Tuesday night defeating Al Allen by a 55% – 45% margin in a special primary election runoff. With no Democratic candidate, Lazarus should be guaranteed a win in the special election April 30, 2013.

I say ‘should be’ because voter turnout was so horrible it’s not beyond the pale that someone could put together a last minute write-in campaign to make general election voting interesting. I don’t expect this to happen, because it would take a candidate who could fire up the voters to make it happen and such a candidate has been sadly lacking in this special election season.

Both of these campaigns certainly underwhelmed voters. Despite estimates that both Lazarus and Allen went over the $100,000 threshold for campaign spending, less than 7 percent of the voters countywide bothered to cast ballots – actually 6.45%.

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Government Monopoly Fever Spreading…

The urge to establish a government monopoly in sectors of the economy seems to be getting irresistible for local governments in South Carolina.

Currently this trend is being seen in county flow control ordinances that force municipalities and private waste haulers to dispose of their collected garbage and other solid waste at landfills owned or designated by county government.

Why is this such a big deal?

Because it supports inefficiently run government landfills and costs taxpayers money.

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Horry Chair Special Election Runoff Hijinks

Republican challengers Mark Lazarus and Al Allen will square off Tuesday March 26th in a special election runoff for the party nomination for Horry County Council chairman.

The election will effectively decide the next council chairman as there is no Democratic candidate and a write-in campaign that could defeat the Republican nominee is not in the cards.

Lazarus led the first round voting with 41 percent of the vote to Allen’s 24.5 percent, which just squeaked out second place over first time candidate Debbie Harwell who finished with 24 percent

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Internet Sweepstakes Ban Passes SC House

A bill South Carolina legislators say will close the current loopholes in state gambling laws making internet sweepstakes games illegal is awaiting Gov. Nikki Haley’s signature to become law.

After failing to pass a similar bill last year, legislators wasted no time in this new legislative session getting the ban in place.

The legislation clarifies what has been a messy situation throughout the state where the games were considered illegal in some jurisdictions and legal in others. In Horry County it was both with Myrtle Beach allowing the games, until SLED raids closed several parlors in the city recently, while the games were considered illegal in the unincorporated areas of the county.

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Flow Control Debate to Senate Committee

The debate on whether the Horry County Solid Waste Authority should be allowed to continue a flow control monopoly over garbage generated in the county will move to the S.C. Senate Medical Affairs Committee March 21st.

Legislation called the ‘Business Freedom to Choose Act’ has already passed the S.C. House in this new legislative session. It is now up to the Senate to see if it will join the House in making a government established monopoly illegal.

The SWA will have Executive Director Danny Knight and Government Affairs Director Mike Bessant in attendance at the committee meeting to speak for maintaining the monopoly.

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SC 1st Congressional District, Sanford and …?

The first step in Mark Sanford’s political ‘Phoenix rising from the ashes’ act finally will be taken tomorrow in the first round of voting tomorrow in the SC 1st Congressional District special election Republican Primary.

Sanford seems a shoe-in to get the 35 percent ‘forgiveness’ vote, but who will accompany him into the second round runoff?

A quick look at the other top candidates from the remaining 15 Republicans in the race gives no quick answer.

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SCDNR Delays International Drive Again

Since International Drive was first proposed, the S.C. Department of Natural Resources has thrown one roadblock after another in the way of the project.

Issues with red cockaded woodpeckers, right of way disputes, bear crossings and chain link fences have all been overcome only to find now the DNR has teamed with the Army Corps of Engineers to discover wetlands that have to be mitigated before permanent road construction can begin.

Two absolutes I quickly learned after moving to Horry County 30 years ago were: there is no such thing as a conflict of interest for politicians and there are no wetlands in Horry County. These were written in stone as the county was transformed by development.

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Paying for Special Election Campaign Pledges

The two candidates in a special election primary runoff for the Republican nomination for Horry County Council chairman spoke of the need to continue to address the same issues that brought them this far.

With those pronouncements in mind, Mark Lazarus and Al Allen, the two surviving candidates, owe some explanations to the voters how they will pursue their earlier pronouncements without raising taxes.

Both were very vocal about re-instituting county paid health insurance for retired county employees. County council voted to phase this coverage out as a benefit too costly to continue.

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SC 1st Congressional District Race Heats Up

The race for the Republican nomination for the SC 1st Congressional District is heating up as the first round of primary voting approaches quickly.

A new ad hitting political newcomer Teddy Turner hard is making its way around television and the internet. The ad attacks Turner’s business failures and political agenda. It was paid for by the Chip Limehouse campaign.

View ad here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfTDTGODe68

The battle between 15 of the 16 Republican candidates is for second place and a chance at strong front runner Mark Sanford in a primary runoff.

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Lazarus, Allen Into Primary Runoff Election

Mark Lazarus and Al Allen are heading into a primary runoff election for the Republican nomination in the special election for Horry County Council chairman.

As there is no Democratic candidate, the runoff, scheduled for March 26th, will inevitably decide the next council chair although a formal general election will be held April 30th. It is not expected any candidate can mount a write-in campaign to knock off the Republican nominee.

Lazarus, a former council member from District 2, jumped into the early lead and held between 37 – 41 percent of the vote total throughout the night, finishing with 40.79 percent.

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