Tag: special election

Autry Benton Kicks Off Campaign for Conway City Council

(Autry Benton, center, flanked by wife, Amanda and Leslie McIver)

Autry Benton kicked off his campaign for Conway City Council with an event at 104 Laurel St. in downtown Conway last night.
Benton is running in the special election to finish out the term of Alex Hyman who resigned his council seat March 20, 2023 in order to accept a position as a circuit judge. A special election will be held June 13, 2023 to fill the vacant seat.
Benton had a good turnout of voters to his inaugural event and support from some elected officials including Horry County Treasurer Angie Jones, Horry County Council Chairman Johnny Gardner and Horry County Council member and former Conway City Council member Tom Anderson. Also on hand were former Horry County School Board Chairman Ken Richardson, former Conway City Council member Leslie McIver and former Horry County Council member Orton Bellamy.
Benton spoke of how this will be his second attempt running for a Conway City Council seat. He just missed out in the general election of 2021, but the experience of running two years ago increased his desire to serve the citizens of Conway.
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Jay Jordan Another ‘Good Ol’ Boy’ in State Senate Bid

The special Republican Primary for state Senate District 31 next Tuesday presents a classic ‘good ol’ boy’ versus outsider matchup between current House member Jay Jordan and businessman Mike Reichenbach.
It will be a test of how dedicated Republican voters are to see change in the way politics are conducted in South Carolina.
House incumbent Jordan has Starboard Communications, the political consulting firm of Walter Whetsell, running his campaign, which should be a red flag for voters who want change. Whetsell is the consultant for Congressman Tom Rice and is closely tied to the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce and its Interstate 73 project.
Another interesting fact is how the South Carolina Association for Justice (SCAJ) has provided maximum contributions to the Jordan campaign. SCAJ has its own named political action committee, SCAJ PAC, which gave the maximum to Jordan. Then, there are 10 more associated PACs, Justice PACs 1-10, all of which have the same address as the SCAJ PAC and each of these supposedly individual PACs gave maximum contributions to the Jordan campaign on the same day – December 6, 2021, according to Jordan’s campaign disclosure filings.
Eleven supposedly individual PACs, all with the same address as the South Carolina Association for Justice PAC, appears on the surface to be an attempt by an association of lawyers to circumvent the state’s campaign finance law.
Supposedly independent PACs with the same address have been funded by the Grand Strand Business Alliance, which is funded by the Chamber, to support Chamber candidates in the past. It may be technically legal but it doesn’t pass the smell test.
It should be noted these lawyer PACs provided the same type of support to Horry County Sen. Luke Rankin in his 2020 reelection campaign. That campaign and its internal associations are now the subject of a lawsuit by Rankin opponent John Gallman.

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Richardson Rolls To GOP Nomination

Ken Richardson was the heavy favorite of voters Tuesday as he captured 71 percent of the vote in the Republican primary special election for Horry County School Board Chairman.

Incumbent school board member Janice Morreale gathered 20 percent of the vote to finish a distant second with former Patricia Milley completing the field at 9 percent.

Richardson will face political newcomer Democrat Heather Johnson in the November general election.

Richardson’s campaign centered on safety in the schools, transparency of board decisions and strict oversight of the school district budget.

The Richardson victory continues a recent trend of incumbents with serious opposition in the primaries falling by the wayside.

Last month challenger Johnny Gardner bested incumbent Mark Lazarus for the Republican nomination for Horry County Council Chairman and William Bailey defeated incumbent Greg Duckworth for the GOP nomination for  SC House District 104. The Richardson victory completed the Trifecta Tuesday night.

What is particularly interesting is all three incumbents had significant help from other incumbents during the primary campaigns.

Lazarus had the endorsement of at least 10 of his 11 fellow county council members as well as endorsements from the coastal mayors and members of the county legislative delegation. State legislators Heather Ammons Crawford and Russell Fry ran the Lazarus campaign.

Duckworth had the active support of fellow legislators Alan Clemmons, Greg Hembree, Fry and Ammons Crawford, as well as North Myrtle Beach Mayor Marilyn Hatley, contacting voters to push Duckworth reelection.

Morreale, the current school board member for District 5, had a group of her fellow school board incumbents actively contacting voters to push her candidacy.

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Four File for School Board Chairman Vacancy

By Paul Gable

Four candidates have filed for the special election to fill the vacancy on the Horry County Board of Education created when Chairman Joe DeFeo died suddenly last month.

Three candidates filed for the Republican nomination for the vacant seat, incumbent School Board District 5 representative Janice Morreale, former teacher Patricia Milley and Conway businessman Ken Richardson. A special primary election will be held July 17, 2018 to determine which of the above three gains the Republican nomination.

Former Aynor Middle School teacher Heather Johnson filed as a Democrat with no primary opposition.

The winner of the Republican Primary will face Johnson in the November 6, 2018 general election.

Richardson has been a member of the Horry Georgetown Technical College Area Commission for 20 years.  He was associated with Fowler Motors for 40 years, beginning as a salesman and working his way up. He owned the dealership for the last 14 years of his association before selling in 2009. He will undoubtedly be the best financed candidate in the race.

Richardson has been planning to run for the school board chairman seat since January 2017, when he first announced his intention to be a candidate in 2020. DeFeo’s death has moved up that timetable. Richardson has advocated for an open door policy by the superintendent for all teachers and administrators in the school district.

Morreale was first elected to the school board in the 2012 general election. She was reelected in 2016. She has been a solid board member representing her district well. However, as the only incumbent school board member in the race, she will face questions about the pay raise school board members voted for themselves recently and about why most recent school construction has come in over budget.

Milley unsuccessfully challenged John Poston for the School Board District 8 seat two years ago. As a former teacher, she has promoted ideas such as more recess time for students and a shorter school day. Milley believes both would better help students concentrate during classroom instruction.

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Mike Roberts Campaign Kickoff Draws Over One Hundred

Over one hundred people attended the kick off Meet and Greet for Mike Roberts’ campaign for Horry County Council District 7.

The event was held at The Warehouse in Conway last week.

A number of county politicians and business people were on hand to help Roberts kick off his campaign.

Sheriff Philip Thompson was joined by local attorney and former state representative George Hearn in a picture with Roberts featured above.

Horry County Auditor Lois Eargle was in attendance as were Horry County council member Jody Prince, state representative Kevin Hardee, former council member and current Horry County Registrar of Deeds Marion Foxworth, former Horry County Treasurer Johnny Allen and longtime Horry County Planning Commission members Don Helms and Dan Gray.

Hearn said of Roberts, “I have known Mike for over 10 years. He is one of the most astute individuals I have encountered and is a man of his word, which, in today’s world is unusual.”

“Mike is a longtime friend and supporter,” said Prince. “His passion for Horry County will be an important addition to county council.”

“Mike is a fine man and will do a good job on council,” said Eargle.

Roberts lost the 2014 general election for Horry County District 7 to 36 year incumbent James Frazier, who resigned his seat March 1st due to declining health.

Roberts is running on a platform of keeping taxes low, supporting growth of small businesses and strong constituent service.

“Government is too quick to raise taxes when it faces some kind of problem,” Roberts said. “We must first look to cut needless spending so we can keep taxes low. “We need to treat all businesses equally, especially small businesses. There is no reason to give incentives to one business while forgetting all the others already operating in the county.”

The Republican and Democratic special primary elections for District 7 will be held May 17, 2016 with primary runoffs on May 31st, if needed. The special general election will be held July 5, 2016.

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Mike Roberts Seeking Horry County Council District Seven Seat

Lifelong Conway resident Mike Roberts announced last week that he was a Republican candidate for the open Horry County Council District Seven seat.

Roberts was the Republican nominee for the District Seven seat in 2014. After winning the Republican primary, Roberts lost to longtime Democratic council member James Frazier in the 2014 general election. With Frazier’s retirement from the position on March 1, 2014, Roberts is again seeking to represent the citizens of District Seven.

Keeping taxes low will be the number one priority for Roberts if he is elected to county council.

“Government is too quick to raise taxes when it faces some kind of problem,” Roberts said. “We must first look to cut needless spending so we can keep taxes low.”

Horry County Council passed the largest property tax increase in history last summer by a 6-5 vote margin. Frazier voted with the slim majority to raise taxes.

It is safe to say, if Roberts had been the victor in 2014, the tax increase would not have passed.

“I would not have voted for it,” Roberts said. “County council passed first reading of the budget with no tax increase. By second reading, we supposedly needed the largest tax increase in history. Nothing changed except the politics.”

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Vote Today Horry County Council District 3

Vote today in the Republican special primary runoff for Horry County Council District 3.

The runoff candidates are Myrtle Beach native Bubba Owens and New Jersey transplant Bob Kelly of Carolina Forest.

District 3 covers the south end of Myrtle Beach from 38th Ave. North to Market Common and across the waterway for a portion of Carolina Forest.

Voting precincts involved are:

• Carolina Bays (split precinct)
• Carolina Forest #1(split precinct)
• Coastal Lane #1
• Coastal Lane #2
• Emerald Forest #1
• Emerald Forest #2
• Jet Port #1 (split precinct)
• Jet Port #2 (split precinct)
• Myrtlewood #1
• Sea Oats #1
• Sea Oats #2

Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.

Any voter registered in Horry County District 3 is eligible to vote today. Primary elections in South Carolina are “open” meaning any registered voter, Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Independent, is eligible to vote.

Even if you did not vote in the first round of primary balloting November 3rd, you are still eligible to vote today.

The winner of the primary runoff will face Democrat Jimmy Washington in the special general election December 22, 2015.

Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.

Any voter registered in Horry County District 3 is eligible to vote today. Primary elections in South Carolina are “open” meaning any registered voter, Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Independent, is eligible to vote.

Even if you did not vote in the first round of primary balloting November 3rd, you are still eligible to vote today.

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Bubba Owens Camp Requests Investigations

The Bubba Owens campaign team is requesting investigations into the attempted bribes and illegal robocalls that have plagued the Horry District 3 special election.

After receiving opinions from two respected attorneys of good standing with experience in the workings of both state and federal election law in particular, the Owens camp is in the process of turning over to authorities all information it has with respect to the Bob Kelly campaign’s attempt to get Owens to drop out of the primary runoff.

According to the Owens camp, this information will include the key November 6, 2015 voicemail that enunciates the bribe along with other supporting voicemails, emails and other documents.

After reviewing the November 6th voicemail sent by Kelly campaign consultant Jim Wiles to Owens campaign consultant Donald Smith, and other evidence, both attorneys came to the same opinion. They stated there is no other way to interpret the November 6th voicemail than that it was a clear attempt to induce Owens to drop out of the race in exchange for receipt of something of value.

A portion of that voicemail states, “… give Kelly a shopping list of what they (Owens and his consultants) want for downtown Myrtle Beach in exchange for Bubba dropping out…”

Both said to say there must be an exchange of money to constitute a bribe, as a college professor opined in a local media, is to totally misunderstand the law. The laundry list for Bob Kelly to commit to represents value in their opinion.

Kelly told several local media outlets that he knew nothing of the Wiles voicemail until it was reported in the media. However, other voicemails and emails included in the evidence appear to contradict that position.

Kelly and his campaign consultant are complaining of recent robocalls, made by a group calling itself “Friends of Bob Kelly”, as being negative hits on him.

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Bob Kelly Goes Negative on Bubba Owens

The special election campaign for Horry County Council District 3 took a negative turn this week with an attempt to smear Republican candidate Bubba Owens.

This was not unexpected as the campaign of Bob Kelly has been trying for weeks to get out what it thought was damaging information about Owens.

The information came from a search of the public index of court records on Owens.

After that search, Kelly’s campaign consultant, Jim Wiles, sent an email to GSD and other media, which, among other things, decried the “22 year criminal record (of Owens) in Horry County” including “two convictions for criminal domestic violence.”

The email went on to claim “15 criminal convictions” and called Owens a “violent felon with a 22 year history of domestic violence.”

A search of the SLED CATCH system, which is the Criminal Justice Information System of South Carolina, reveals only three entries.

Owens plead guilty to unlawful use of a telephone (a misdemeanor) in January 1997 and public disorderly conduct (a misdemeanor) in June 2004.

Owens was arrested for criminal domestic violence (a felony) in 2013, but the charges were dismissed because no probable cause for the arrest was found.

(The SLED CATCH documents are attached at the end of this story.)

Another attached document is a summons for Owens to serve as a federal district court jurist in December 2015. For those of you not familiar with the law, a convicted felon cannot serve on a jury in South Carolina, neither federal nor state.

So, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division records do not show Owens to be a felon. Neither do SC court system records.

One has to wonder, however, why the Kelly campaign, one which claims his career as a police officer as some kind of shining endorsement and touts the words “Zero Tolerance” as if it were a Bible verse, felt the need to stoop so low.

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Candidate Forum Today

A candidate forum for both Horry County Council District 3 and the Myrtle Beach City Council candidates will be held today at the Canal Street Recreation Center.

This will provide a double opportunity for those living on the South end of Myrtle Beach to see and hear the candidates they will be voting for next week.

First round voting for the special election to fill the unexpired term of former council member Marion Foxworth in the county District 3 and the general election for Myrtle Beach city council will be held Tuesday November 3rd.

The forum for the county council candidates will begin at 5 p.m. It will run approximately one and one-half hours. A 15 minute break will occur between the two forums with the city council forum scheduled to start at 6:45 p.m.

Each forum will include opening and closing statements by the candidates and questioning of the candidates on important issues facing local government. The public will have the opportunity to participate in the forums by submitting questions, of particular concern to them, to the forum moderators.

Between the two forums, two appreciation of service awards will be presented.

Former Horry County Council member for District 3 Marion Foxworth will be one recipient. Foxworth resigned from office in August to accept the job as Horry County Registrar of Deeds.

Retiring city council member Susan Grissom Means will be the other recipient of an appreciation of service award.

This forum is being held as the campaigns accelerate into high gear for the final week of electioneering.

South Carolina is known for its hardball (many would call it dirty) politics. One only has to go back to the 2000 smear campaign waged against presidential candidate John McCain in South Carolina.

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