Rice goes after ‘absent’ Fry in his first attack ad of heated Myrtle Beach-area SC-7 battle

U.S. Rep. Tom Rice is out with the first TV ad of his heated primary campaign — a quick hit attack against state House member Russell Fry skewering his absences from votes in the General Assembly.

The 15-second commercial, which went live across the 7th congressional district starting Wednesday, features a photograph of Fry as it accuses the Surfside Beach attorney of missing “1 in 7 votes” over the course of his seven-year legislative career — totaling 600 in all.

“There are no excused absences in Congress,” Rice said in a statement.

Rice, a Charleston-born attorney raised in Myrtle Beach, has represented the district since 2011.

Logan McVey, a spokesman for Rice’s campaign, said the more than $50,000 ad buy will put the commercial in thousands of homes across the district, and is also running online.

The spot specifically references a Feb. 24 vote Fry missed on a House tax cut proposal that would reduce the top income tax rate from 7% currently to 6% over the next five years.

“Missed the largest tax cut in history,” the ad says.

Fry was at Trump’s Mar-A-Lago resort on that day, but voted to support of the measure during final floor talks in the House.

“Once again Tom proves he can’t be trusted. Tom is distorting Russell’s record. Russell Fry has over a 98 percent attendance record in the State House, voted for South Carolina’s largest tax cut, and is a conservative endorsed by Donald Trump,” Fry campaign manager Philip Habib told The Sun News on Thursday.

Habib provided a copy of Fry’s House attendance records that show him missing six out of 347 legislative working days since 2015.

Another campaign ad from Rice, circulating online, shows Rice criticizing Fry for voting for priorities of the American Conservative Union 58% of the time. Rice said he’s voted for the group’s priorities 89% of the time.

Prior to his ads attacking Fry, Rice had an ad promoting his work in Congress circulating online and on local stations.

Fry is among a crowded slate of candidates looking to unseat Rice. In February, he won the endorsement of former president Donald Trump, who soured on Rice after he joined 10 other Republicans in voting to impeach him following the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot.

Rice has repeatedly defended his vote, arguing that Trump’s actions on Jan. 6 violated the Constitution.

This story was originally published May 4, 2022 at 5:40 PM.