Tag: Deirdre Edmonds

Handicapping the Race for County Council Chairman Nomination

Since filing for office closed March 30th, my friend and cohost on “Talking Politics”, John Bonsignor, has been trying to make the case that Johnny Gardner is not a serious challenger to incumbent Horry County Council Chairman Mark Lazarus in the June 2018 Republican Primary election.

One thing John and I have proved through the years is that we can disagree (often) without being disagreeable.

I recently wrote about Gardner receiving the endorsement of Horry County Professional Firefighter Local 4345 IAFF. John responded with a diatribe on why Lazarus has nothing to worry about from Gardner in the primary, in John’s opinion.

John and I have lived in Horry County for over 30 years each, so I want to go back through history a little to demonstrate that an incumbent officeholder is not a shoe-in candidate for re-election.

It is often difficult to defeat an incumbent officeholder, but far from an impossible task.

Sheriff Philip Thompson was an underdog when he first ran for the office in 2000 against incumbent Teddy Henry. I remember Chicken Bog socials with Thompson speaking from the back of a truck to voters throughout the county. Accompanying Thompson on these journeys were off-duty officers from the Horry County Police Department showing their support for him. Ultimately, Thompson obtained the support of a majority of county employees and that made the difference in the election.

Melanie Huggins for Horry County Clerk of Courts and Roddy Dickinson for Horry County Treasurer, both in 2004, are other interesting examples. Incumbents were retiring from both offices, but Huggins was opposed by former Clerk of Courts Billie Richardson, coming out of retirement to run again. Dickinson was opposed by Robert Rabon, later to be Horry County Republican chairman. Richardson and Rabon had more money and the support of political insiders, but Huggins and Dickinson won primarily on the strength of a majority of county employees and their friends who supported them.

When Huggins and Dickinson retired, Angie Jones for Treasurer and Renee Elvis for Clerk of Court both won election to their current offices in 2016 on the strength of major support from county employees.

Continue Reading →

Anti-Incumbent Fever Rages in Horry County Primaries

Anti-incumbent fever raged through Horry County primaries Tuesday as five of six incumbents running in contested primaries lost.

One of the causes for the upsets, if you can call them that, was the pitiful, approximately 13%, voter turnout countywide.

The only survivor was S.C. House District 56 representative Mike Ryhal who won in a rematch against challenger Dennis DiSabato who Ryhal defeated two years ago to win the new house district seat.

The two biggest surprises of the night were the losses by incumbent S.C. House District 104 representative Tracy Edge and by Horry County District Three council member Brent Schulz.

Continue Reading →

The Battle for Horry County Probate Judge

It is not often a race for probate judge takes center stage in an election cycle, but that is exactly what is happening in the Republican Primary contest for Horry County Probate Judge.

The race pits three term incumbent Horry County Probate Judge Deirdre Edmonds against Kathy Ward, a former Associate Judge of the Probate Court, who worked under Edmonds for nearly 12 years.

On the basis of qualifications, this is no contest. It goes to Judge Edmonds hands down!

Continue Reading →

The Choice for Probate Judge in Horry County

The Probate Judge Republican primary battle in Horry County brings to light some interesting details about South Carolina’s legal system.

On the surface, there may not seem to be much separating the two candidates with incumbent Probate Judge Deirdre Edmonds being challenged by one of her former associate judges, Kathy Ward.

But, that’s where South Carolina law steps in. With its head stuck in the 19th Century, you don’t even have to be a graduate of a law school or have passed the bar exam to be a candidate for Probate Judge in this state, thanks to its 1895 Constitution.

Continue Reading →

Plot to Stop Lindsey Graham Faltering

What does it tell you that the Tea Party’s best candidate to challenge Sen. Lindsey Graham is a former Democratic operative who ran the Michael Dukakis campaign in South Carolina?

Det Bowers officially filed yesterday to challenge Graham. While he is now talking about right wing issues such as illegal immigration, Obamacare, term limits and balanced federal budgets, it is Bowers’ former Democratic associations that reportedly bring hope to stopping Graham.

The thought process is that Bowers will attract at least some of the crossover Democrat vote in the June open Republican Primary that was expected to fully support Graham. It is hoped that this will bring Graham’s vote in the first round of the primary to under 50% forcing a runoff.

Continue Reading →

Foxworth, Thompson Announce Candidacies

The local political scene is heating up with filing for state and local candidates opening at noon Friday.

Two incumbent Horry County politicians held campaign kick-off events recently to start the Spring primary election season.

Incumbent District Three Horry County Council member Marion Foxworth welcomed approximately 150 friends and supporters to an event at Victoria’s Country Cooking Saturday evening. The event was hosted by Robert Shelley and Victoria’s owner John Johnson.

Foxworth, a Democrat, had an interesting cross-party mix at his event including fellow Republican council members Harold Worley, Jody Prince and Carl Schwartzkopf and former council member Mark Lazarus.

Continue Reading →