Thursday, April 18, 2024
When Rep. Tracy Edge looks back on his 2014 primary election defeat, he can thank the Horry County Solid Waste Authority (HCSWA), at least in part, for the result.
According to its check register, HCSWA donated $5,000 of public money, in Fiscal Year 2013-14, to sponsor two tables at the Conservative Voters of South Carolina (CVSC) annual Green Tie Luncheon fundraiser.
CVSC targeted Edge for defeat, directly supporting his opponent Greg Duckworth.
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.
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.
Homeowner’s associations (HOA) and the ability of residents affected by them to get treated fairly has become an increasing matter of debate in both Horry County and around the state in recent years.
As more retirees moved to the county over the last 10 years, they often chose private sub-divisions or condominiums to live in that are governed by some type of HOA.
Homeowner Associations are governed by a chain of documents and laws such as:
The Articles of Incorporation filed with the Secretary of State provide the legal basis of the association in the form of an Incorporated Non-Profit Corporation.
The Conservatives for Responsible Government, probably the most truly conservative group in Horry County, announced their candidate endorsements this week.
CRG supports low taxes, low spending and individual freedom through limited government. It is not an automatic endorser of candidates spouting labels and clichés.
“Party labels are not important for our endorsement,” said CRG chair Chris Panos. “We are not interested in whether candidates have an “R” or a “D” behind their names. We want candidates who live by our principles of small government and individual liberty.”
South Carolina held elections Tuesday and almost nobody bothered to show up. Voter turnout, or lack of it, was the story of Tuesday’s primary elections. Less than 10 percent (9.88%) of registered voters statewide bothered to come to the polls.
Low turnout was expected as continuing stories of candidates being struck from the ballot over the last two months dominated the news, but, under 10 percent is horrible. The old Communist Bloc in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union had more voter excitement in the past than this election generated.
Even Horry County with the new 7th Congressional District, four contested House races and one contested Senate race to vote for barely broke through the 10 percent voter turnout threshold.
In the new 7th Congressional District, Gloria Bromell Tinubu may have avoided a runoff and won the Democratic nomination outright after nearly 8,000 votes for Ted Vick were tossed out of the ballot count. Vick dropped out of the race two weeks ago when he was arrested for DUI and weapons possession in Columbia.
The fallout from the election filing mess continues as the General Assembly looks to overturn last week’s Supreme Court ruling with a joint resolution this week.
If successful, the resolution could put back on the ballot the nearly 200 candidates statewide who failed to file paperwork properly at filing.
The key wording in the resolution is:
SECTION 1. Notwithstanding the provisions contained in Section 8-13-1356(E), any person whose name will not appear on the June 2012 primary election ballot pursuant to the Supreme Court holding in Michael Anderson and Robert Barger v. South Carolina Election Commission, et. al.
The Horry County June 12th primary election ballots could have many blank spaces instead of candidates’ names if the South Carolina Supreme Court determines strict adherence with state law is required by all candidates.
After the state Supreme Court agreed last week to hear two cases regarding challenges to candidate filings from the recent election filing period, Grand Strand Daily conducted further investigation into filing dates of candidate Statement of Economic Interests.
Our investigation of filing information listed on the S.C. Ethics Commission website included both incumbent office holders as well as challengers. The results are that many candidates, it could even be said most, did not strictly comply with state law when filing for office in the current election cycle.
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