Horry County incumbents sweep local races while some candidates await runoff elections
Horry County’s voter turnout percentages increased this year compared to 2016, despite rain and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Seventeen percent of Horry County’s 236,682 registered voters voted this year compared to 11 percent of the county’s 194,676 registered voters in 2016.
The folks who voted largely chose to stick with the status quo. For many local elections in Horry County, the Republican primaries decide who wins in November due to no challengers from opposing parties.
Incumbents won all the Horry County Council and South Carolina House of Representatives seats up for grabs on Tuesday.
While the election results are not yet officially certified, no race was all that close, and the unofficial outcomes should stand. Certification happens soon after the election.
Horry County Board of Education Incumbent Janice Morreale lost her District 5 seat to challenger Howard Barnard.
While all precincts are in, some races will go to a run-off election to be held on June 23 since no candidate received 50 percent of the votes.
The South Carolina Senate race will have a runoff between incumbent Luke Rankin and challenger John Gallman. Rankin had the most ballots cast in his favor but failed to secure 50 percent of the vote to avoid the runoff.
County Council’s District 9 race will have a runoff between Mark Causey and Terry Fowler. Incumbent Paul Prince chose not to seek re-election this year. Causey took the most votes on Tuesday.
Finally, the Horry County’s auditor race will also have a runoff between R A Johnson and Beth Calhoun. Incumbent Lois Eargle decided not to run this year. Calhoun had the most votes on Tuesday.
Despite having three candidates in the race, Democratic candidate Melissa Watson for the District 7 seat to the United States House of Representatives managed to secure enough votes to avoid a run-off. She will face Republican Incumbent Tom Rice in November.
While the number can change during the certification process, here are the full unofficial results from Tuesday’s election as of Wednesday morning:
U.S. Congress
District 7 - Democratic Primary (results include more than Horry County)
William H Cowboy Williams - 3,862
Melissa Ward Watson - 25,311
Robert Williams - 21,296
South Carolina Senate:
District 30 - Democratic Primary (results include more than Horry County)
Kent M Williams* - 13,118
Patrick Richardson - 3,978
District 32 - Democratic Party (results include more than Horry County)
Ronnie A Sabb* - 9,492
Manley Marvell Collins - 237
Kelly Spann - 1,471
Ted Brown - 2,128
District 33 - Republican Primary
Luke A Rankin* - 4,915
John Gallman - 4,210
Carter Smith - 3,105
State House of Representatives:
District 68 - Republican Primary
Heather Ammons Crawford* - 2,311
Mark W Epps - 1,244
District 105 - Republican Primary
Kevin Hardee* - 2,937
Steve Robertson - 1,705
District 107 - Republican Primary
Alan Clemmons* - 2,892
Case Brittain (REP) - 2,052
County Council:
District 3 - Republican Primary
Dennis DiSabato* - 1,178
Karon Rabon Mitchell - 816
District 10 - Republican Primary
Danny J Hardee* - 2,276
Stephen Whisnant - 838
District 9 - Republican Primary
Terry Fowler - 955
Marshall E Russell - 116
Rome Prince - 690
Mark Causey - 1,236
District 6 - Republican Primary
Cam Crawford* - 1,229
Jeremy Halpin - 788
District 4 - Republican Primary
Gary Loftus* - 2,318
Ian Guerin - 1,283
School Board:
District 5 - Republican Primary
Janice Morreale* - 1,262
Howard Barnard - 1,613
District 4 - Republican Primary
David Cox* - 2,335
Mckean Nowlin - 1,219
Elected officials
Clerk of Court - Republican Primary
Renee N Elvis* - 20,681
Angie Altman-Robbins - 11,052
Auditor - Republican Primary
R A Johnson - 11,406
Beth Calhoun - 12,611
Clark B Parker - 7,194
This story was originally published June 10, 2020 at 10:31 AM.
