Delegation from Grand Strand lobbies for House seat

COLUMBIA -- Voters, including a group of about 50 people from the Grand Strand, packed a hearing Monday as lawmakers draw up plans for a new U.S. House seat, withmany in the audience wearing buttons saying they want their northeastern corner of the state kept together instead of split among three districts as it is now.

Redistricting is required every decade so that legislative and congressional districts reflect population changes and meet certain federal requirements. The new maps require federal approval under the Voting Rights Act to ensure they don't discriminate against minorities.

South Carolina is picking up a seventh U.S. House seat to account for population growth - returning a seat the Palmetto State lost in 1930 as population fell.

The House approved its version of the plan last week and that's what most of the crowd wanted. That plan puts the 7th District in the northeastern corner of South Carolina with coastal Horry and Georgetown counties and mostly rural counties near the state line with North Carolina.

Dozens traveled from that part of the state on a chartered bus and wore red and white "Pee Dee wants the 7th District!" buttons

Myrtle Beach tea party leader Joe Dugan said the region needs to stick together and not be split up as outlined in one Senate proposal. The area is growing fast, he said, adding it needs a single U.S. representative to deal with everything from job creation to funding issues and overcrowded roads.

"Because of the growth in the Pee Dee, we need a congressman to focus on the growth in this area," Dugan said.

One Senate Judiciary staff plan has the new district in the northeastern corner of the state, but it doesn't include Georgetown County and splits Horry County around Myrtle Beach. To "divide an area of common tourism like this into two separate districts just doesn't make any sense to me," Dugan said.

After testifying Monday, Brad Dean, president of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce said by email, "The Grand Strand and Pee Dee regions are effectively an economic community of interest already, offering a logical basis for the new congressional district. This decision should be made with priority given to the current makeup and future growth prospects of this region, rather than gerrymandering and political pandering."

Senate Judiciary Chairman Glenn McConnell said the crowd's support for that northeastern district was influential. "We'll take that into consideration and look at it," the Charleston Republican said.

The second Senate staff plan has two coastal districts. U.S. Rep. Tim Scott's 1st District would remain much like it is now as it stretches from Charleston County, through Georgetown County and ending in Horry County on the coast. But it would draw the new 7th District to include Beaufort, Colleton and Jasper counties on the coast and stretch inland to Georgetown, Calhoun and Allendale counties.

The state Democratic Party offered a plan that called for reducing the black voting population of the 6th District, saying the state would be better served by spreading the influence of black voters across more of the state.

Last week, state Democratic Party Chairman Dick Harpootlian said the plans being drawn up for the U.S. House as well as the state House and Senate amounted to "electoral apartheid." He said he expected legal action over the plans.

Florence County GOP Chairman Bill Pickle was irked by Harpootlian's description but wasn't worried about the lawsuit threat. "No matter what map's used, somebody's going to blast it," Pickle said. "I think all of us know it is going to end up in court."

McConnell said he expects his committee to send a proposed U.S. House plan to the Senate floor for debate this week. He expects debate to stretch into next week "because there's going to be some difficulty with this congressional plan."

"There are problems on the maps and they're going to create some fights," he added.

For instance, not all of the Pee Dee counties that want to be in 7th District can be in that new district because too many people live there.