Two announce bid for Hardwick’s former House seat

Two South Strand men have announced their intent to seek the Republican nomination to run for the S.C. House seat left vacant by the resignation of Nelson Hardwick last week.

Horry County Councilman Tyler Servant and Russell Fry, an executive committee member in the Horry County Republican party, both said Monday they plan to run for the open seat. Hardwick resigned after 10 years in the seat amid allegations that he harrassed a female House staffer.

Filing for the special election doesn’t officially open until May 29 and runs until June 8. A primary is scheduled for July 28 with a special general election on Sept. 15 for the seat, which covers parts of the South Strand, including Surfside Beach and Garden City.

Five months into getting his feet wet as a junior councilman, Servant, a 24-year-old Realtor who represents District 5, has set his eyes on the statehouse.

Servant grew up in the South Strand and graduated from St. James High School. He attended the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina where he earned degrees in real estate and marketing with a minor in political science. Servant served on Sen. Ray Cleary’s staff for three years.

He issued a statement Monday morning saying he has received encouragement from the community to run for the House seat.

“Since Rep. Hardwick’s resignation, I have been overwhelmed by the number of folks in our community asking me to seek this office,” Servant wrote. “It hasn’t been an easy decision, and the timing isn’t ideal. I am currently seeking to implement a waste elimination incentive plan for our county government, and the height of the tourist season is only days away for my family business. Unfortunately, doing what’s best for your community isn’t something you can schedule.”

Servant was “actively putting my campaign together,” he said by email Monday at noon and requested that questions be sent to him via email after The Sun News asked for a phone interview. Servant had not returned the call as of Monday evening.

Fry, 30, is a lifelong resident of the area, a graduate of Socastee High School, the University of South Carolina, and the Charleston School of Law. He is co-owner of a small strategic consulting business, lawyer at the Coastal Law Firm, and serves as the executive committeeman for the Horry County Republican Party.

Fry doesn’t have experience as an elected public official, but has worked on campaigns behind the scenes.

“I have worked my entire adult life trying to elect good Republicans and this opportunity presented itself,” Fry said. “I was encouraged by a lot of people in the district to run and I want to be a good Republican voice for the South Strand in Columbia.”

“I think there is a lot of opportunity in Columbia to do positive, conservative reform for the state that affects this area... I think there’s a lot of room for improvement on a whole host of issues.”

Fry classified road infrastructure as “of primary importance” and said he is a proponent of the Southern Evacuation Life Line — a proposed road that would allow for swifter evacuation of those on the South Strand in the event of severe weather.

Both candidates are pushing the message of cutting government waste. Servant, through his press release, said he plans to introduce a waste elimination incentive plan to be voted on by county council and would work on something similar, if elected. Fry said he would like to work on downsizing the number of school districts in the state, which would save money on administrators and free more money for classrooms.

“I think that’s one way we can eliminate more bureaucracy and put more money in the classroom for teachers and for students,”Fry said. “That’s just one of probably many things we can do on the state level to be smarter about the way we spend money.”

Other Republicans considering a bid for the seat are Mande Wilkes and Reese Boyd.

This story was originally published May 18, 2015 at 10:29 AM with the headline "Two announce bid for Hardwick’s former House seat."