Horry County pushes to be at center of new power after census

Local political leaders on Tuesday cheered the addition of a congressional seat to South Carolina and called for Horry County to be at the center of one of the newly drawn districts.

The U.S. Census released the first data from the 2010 Census on Tuesday, which showed population shifts to the southern and western parts of the United States and gave South Carolina an additional congressional seat.

South Carolina has had six congressional districts since the 1930s, when it lost its seventh district following the 1930 Census.

"I'm thrilled that South Carolina has expanded its delegation from six to seven. That makes South Carolina a big winner today," said State Rep. Alan Clemmons R- Myrtle Beach.

Clemmons is the chairman of the S.C. House of Representatives election laws subcommittee which will have a key role in helping to draw the new boundaries of South Carolina's districts. Many analysts and officials, including Bobby Bowers, director of the S.C. Office of Research and Statistics, which helped organized this year's count of state residents, said that the new district is likely going to include part of the coast, which is one of the fastest growing areas in the state.

"Every district will change dramatically because of the addition of the seventh district," Clemmons said. "You will see me advocating for Horry County to be the center or the heartbeat of its own congressional district, whether it's the new district or not."

Area Democratic and Republican party leaders say the additional congressional seat centered in Horry County would help bring attention to local interests and more money to the county.

The decision on district boundaries is still quite a ways off because the state legislature must wait until the Census Bureau releases specific data about population changes within the state by April. Before that data is available, the election laws subcommittee will hold hearings to get input from groups about how the new districts should be drawn, Clemmons said.

The state legislature will use input from the hearings and the Census data to draw maps, which will have to get approved by the S.C. House, S.C. Senate and the governor. The justice department or the federal courts then have to give final approval to the redistricting plans before they are official.

Clemmons said that Horry County has the largest population of any of its surrounding counties so it should naturally be the center of a district and have a significant voice in Congress.

Shirley Vaught Oliver, the chairwoman of Horry County Democrats said the additional congressional seat should be good for the county.

"I think with the growth that Horry County has seen I think we stand a pretty good chance of that new seat being located in all of Horry County and parts of other counties," she said.

The new representative will focus on the needs of the area, Oliver said.

"It gives us a little additional voice, whether that's Republican or Democrat, that's really important," she said.

Robert Rabon, the chairman of the Horry County Republican Party said that a new congressional representative is important financially for the state.

"Each congressman is fighting for money. It is often allocated by district. It's one more person at the table, one more voice," he said.

A new district centered in Horry County would mean a high likelihood that a local politician would be headed to Washington D.C. to represent the area's interests, Rabon said.

"I think it would be huge," he said, adding that it is another representative at the table to advocate for and bring money home to the county.

Rabon said that while the retiring Rep. Henry Brown, R-South Carolina has served the county well and his successor, Tim Scott, will as well, a local in the seat would give more attention to Horry County issues.

"It's not that they have been neglectful but just the general sense they're more familiar with the area and the landscape and the needs and they're closer to the people [from the Charleston area]," Rabon said.

Local candidates like Clark Parker, of Conway, who ran in the crowded primary for the Republican nomination for the 1st Congressional District, would have a better chance of being elected and would know the area better, he said.

Parker didn't win the primary but did bring in more votes in Horry County of any of the candidates. Parker said that there would be a lot of interest from Horry County candidates, including him, in running for a congressional seat in a district centered here.

He said Horry County needs the opportunity to be represented and be the center of a new district.

"I think it's long overdue," Parker said. "We've been able to prosper, grow and develop [but] I think we would have achieved a lot of things quicker if we had more representation."