By Paul Gable
Russell Fry claimed the SC House District 106 Republican nomination yesterday in a rout over opponent Tyler Servant.
The final vote totals saw Fry with 1,736 votes (59.82%) to Servant’s 1,166 votes (40.18%).
Fry’s name will be the only one on the ballot in the September 15, 2015 special general election for SC House District 106, which makes him a virtual shoo-in to be the newest member of the SC House.
Fry will serve out the remainder of Nelson Hardwick’s unexpired term and be up for re-election in 2016.
Fry thanked the many campaign volunteers who worked through the summer heat to help him win the nomination.
“This is all about the people of District 106,” Fry said in addressing the crowd. “I intend to work hard for them and I truly appreciate the trust they have put in me.”
Fry, who has been very active in the local Republican Party, ran an excellent grassroots campaign in his first attempt at elected office. He nearly doubled his margin of victory over Servant from the first round of primary voting.
Servant’s loss means he will continue as the Horry County Council member for District 5, a seat he has held for only seven months.
Therein lies the problem with the Servant candidacy. It is extremely difficult to go to the voters twice in 12 months asking them to elect you to different offices. It gives the impression that you are in politics for yourself only. Any campaign consultant worth his fee would have discouraged this candidacy.
In the last few days, the Servant campaign turned negative as it became apparent Fry was maintaining a solid lead with the voters.
Personally, I believe the mailers dropped by the Servant campaign over the last weekend were two of the worst pieces of campaign literature I have ever seen.
Enough of that.
Fry must get voters to the polls one more time to seal the victory, although I doubt a write-in campaign will be attempted against this popular young candidate.
Servant must return to county council, attempt to mend fences with his colleagues there and demonstrate he can be an effective representative for the voters of his district.
Speak Up…