Politics

Atlantic Beach Bikefest, Money and Myrtle Beach

Much has been made about the extra money from accommodations tax that will be available to purchase the services of extra police for next year’s Atlantic Beach Bikefest.

Thanks to quick work in the General Assembly, approximately $2.3 million dollars will be allowed to be diverted from tourism marketing and promotion to law enforcement costs next year.

I have even heard some talk about some of that money being used for private security firms, such as Blackwater Security, if a few additional changes can be made to state law to allow it.

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Pat McKinney Drops Candidacy, Statewide Vote Recount Cancelled

An automatic statewide vote recount to finalize the second position in the Lt. Governor’s race was cancelled this evening when unofficial second place finisher Pat McKinney dropped out of the race.

McKinney, who finished in second place in unofficial vote tallies after Tuesday’s primary, led third place finisher Mike Campbell by 1,250 votes triggering an automatic recount because the margin separating the two was within a 1% margin of the total vote.

According to campaign manager Taylor Hall, McKinney decided to drop out of the race for personal reasons having lost his father and father-in-law within the last two months.

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Absentee Vote Glitch Affects Two Horry County Primary Election Races

Grand Strand Daily has learned that a computer glitch caused incorrect absentee vote totals to be credited to candidates Tuesday night resulting in a change of results for two Horry County primary election races.

According to sources involved in the process, an apparent fault was first discovered Wednesday morning in the absentee vote totals credited to the Horry County Council District Five candidates.

The sources said that some of the absentee vote totals are stored in a computer prior to election night, those being the early voters in the county. Other absentee votes are registered on paper ballots that were cast in the traditional absentee method.

When the paper ballot vote totals were added to the computer vote totals, the addition of approximately 300 extra votes were credited to candidate Clif Smith, according to sources. None of the other candidates received the benefit of extra votes.

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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.

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Primary Election Day

It’s Primary Election Day in South Carolina.

Get out and Vote! Polls open at 7 a.m. and remain open until 7 p.m.

This is your chance to have a say in who governs and on what issues over the next several years.

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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!

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Ethics Reform – Not So Fast

Watered Down Ethics Reform Bill Nears Approval

A very watered down ethics reform bill was reported out of conference committee Wednesday and received an overwhelming vote of yeas in the S.C. House yesterday.

The bill must be approved by the Senate before going to Gov. Nikki Haley’s desk for signature.

But, the key measure needed for real ethics reform in South Carolina was left behind by the conference committee.

South Carolina’s legislators just can’t allow themselves to be at the mercy of an independent ethics commission, so the House and Senate Ethics Committees remain as the investigatory bodies for the state’s legislators.

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Coast RTA Funding Agreement Far Exceeds Special Committee Recommendations

Horry County has apparently found a way to exert the influence it desires over Coast RTA decisions with a proposed funding agreement between the county and the bus agency.

After failing for the last two years to have its membership on the Coast RTA board increased, the county will now have the ability to virtually dictate decisions to the Coast RTA board if the new funding agreement is approved by both sides.

The funding agreement goes far beyond recommendations made by a Special Committee on Coast RTA appointed by Horry County Council Chairman Mark Lazarus. The committee deliberated through four sessions before approving a report to Horry County Council that recommended continuing funding for the agency.

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Paul Price Endorses Reese Boyd for Horry District 5

Retiring Horry County Council District 5 member Paul Price issued the following press release today endorsing Reese Boyd to succeed him.

Price said after careful consideration, he believed Boyd was the best choice to represent the citizens of District 5 in the upcoming term.

The endorsement comes at a key time with the Republican Primary being held on Tuesday June 10th to decide among four candidates who will replace Price on the November ticket.

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Mixed Messages on Atlantic Beach Bikefest

Local and state officials are sending a lot of mixed messages about the Atlantic Beach Bikefest next year.

So far this week, Atlantic Beach Mayor Jake Evans said the town supported the Atlantic Beach Bikefest and it would continue. The next day, Governor Nikki Haley reiterated the Atlantic Beach Bikefest was bad for South Carolina and it needed to end.

Each admitted they had not talked to the other. Is picking up a phone so hard?

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