Meet the candidates seeking the Republican nomination for Horry County Council
The June 9 South Carolina Statewide primaries are just around the corner. While this election season has been unlike any other, the democratic process continues despite an ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The Sun News sent a short questionnaire to all candidates seeking elected office this election season. Every candidate received the same questions emailed to the email address they included in public election filing documents. Reporters with The Sun News took the answers and wrote summaries of the top priorities for each candidate, past political experience and what voters needed to know about the candidates.
This article includes just information for people running in contested party primaries. A full list of candidates seeking positions in November can be found on myrtlebeachonline.com and survey results from candidates not in a contested race may be used in future election stories.
Here are the candidates for Horry County Council:
District 3 - Republican Primary
Incumbent Dennis DiSabato, who has lived in his district since 2006, wants the opportunity to lead his district for a second term. He is proud that the county has managed to create a balanced and lean budget every year that still maintains essential services. He is seeking re-election to continue fighting for better infrastructure in the community through implementing an impact fee he serves, creating a fifth police precinct in the county and using hospitality funds to hire additional public safety officers and finding a way to secure the local match to join state and federal leaders in an effort to build I-73. In the coming term he hopes to work better with other local governments to avoid problems and more efficiently serve their shared constituencies.
Challenger Karon Mitchell is running against DiSabato for the Republican Primary. You can learn more about her by visiting her Facebook page.
District 4 - Republican Primary
Incumbent Gary Loftus is a longtime member of the Horry County Council and has built a lifelong career in the tourism industry in Horry County. His resume includes 28 years as a resort manager, 16 years as director of Coastal Carolina University’s Center for Economic Development and he has served on the South Carolina Department of Transportation Commission. He is proud that the county has remained fiscally conservative for years and touts one of the lowest tax mileage in the whole state. Overall, he thinks the coun ty is doing a good job and is working to do better each day. He noted 15 additional police officers will be hired soon through a federal grant recently awarded to the county. He believes the county is heading in a good direction and the council needs to build on what is working now. Loftus hopes to continue supporting public safety, using RIDE money to build new roads and improving stormwater infrastructure.
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Challenger Ian Guerin is leaving the journalist’s life behind to seek public office for the first time. While he believes council has made strides advocating for the area on a statewide level, he believes his district deserves more communication from their leadership and fresh ideas in office. He hopes to further actively engage his constituents, include them in the process, improve transparency in government so everyone can know why decisions are being made and ensure elected leaders are held accountable for their actions. He believes if residents do not feel included in government, then the council is failing them. He says Horry County needs to strengthen its fight against flooding and make smart infrastructure a top priority when addressing the concerns of a growing area. Guerin said he chose to run because he has three children and he wants to be a part of building a better Horry County for them to enjoy.
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District 6 - Republican Primary
Incumbent Cam Crawford, who has lived in the area since 1995, is seeking re-election to county council to continue advocating for new roads and flood resilience in his community. He has served on council since 2015, is a former chair of the Grand Strand Young Republicans and served as aide to Congressman Henry Brown. Crawford sees his main job on council as improving the quality of life for his constituents. Ways he hopes to improve flood resilience could involve controlling river flow through a hydroelectric dam and beefing up stormwater regulations on smaller developments to avoid localized flooding. In addition, he hopes to continue making sure public safety officers are paid equitably and making sure new, safer roads are constructed in a way that requires less resurfacing projects down the road.
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Challenger Jeremy Halpin is running for the seat. Find more information about him on his Facebook page.
District 9 - Republican Primary
Incumbent Paul Prince is not seeking re-election this year. His son, Rome Prince, is running for the position. Learn more about the Princes at https://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/news/local/article240299911.html.
Terry Fowler is a lifelong Horry County resident who has served in law enforcement and owns a small business. If elected, this would be his first time holding office and he hopes to be a good listener who uses social media to communicate directly with constituents on key issues and discuss why he holds certain beliefs. He wants to do a thorough review of what policies and guidelines are needed to better control development in the area, especially in flood-prone areas, and begin implementing resilience strategies. Expanding public safety capacity in the rural parts of the county is important to Fowler’s platform. He believes the west precinct in particular is serving too large of an area.
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Others seeking the position include Mark Causey and Marshall E Russell.
District 10 - Republican Primary
Incumbent Danny Hardee has tried to be “leadership you can count on” during his first term on council and he has more than a decade involved in local politics. He is a native of Loris and has been self-employed for 30 years. Securing raises for public safety officers last year is one of his proudest achievements in office. Hardee would like to see Horry County make public safety coverage equal across the county. In addition, he wants to limit irresponsible development in flood-prone areas but also acknowledges not all development is bad if done right in appropriate locations. A key issue for him is flooding, and he wants the county to seek more expert advice on how to fix the issue. He considers himself lucky to represent a community he cares so much about.
Challenger Stephen Whisnant grew up in Black Mountain, North Carolina before studying music and becoming the Loris High School band director for the last 22 years. If elected, this would be his first time serving in office. He believes the county council is doing a good job on public safety, but he would like to see council take seriously the correlation between over development and flooding. His top priorities in office include using impact fees to improve critical infrastructure in the county, seeking creative engineering solutions to river and flash flooding issues and constructing a recreational center for the Loris area. Ultimately, he wants to make sure the youth of Horry County have just as heard and appreciated as big developers and other special interests.
