Kelly, Owens reach runoff for Horry County Council District 3

Bob Kelly and Bubba Owens will square off in two weeks to determine which one can represent the Republican Party in the race for Horry County Council District 3.

Kelly received 40 percent of the votes cast in Tuesday’s primary and Owens garnered 24 percent, according to unofficial results. Ethan Leyshon (22 percent) came in third and Keith VanWinkle (14 percent) finished fourth.

Kelly did not receive more than half of the votes cast to win the primary outright. That means he and Owens will meet again in a Nov. 17 runoff.

The winner of that contest will face Democrat Jimmy Washington, who faced no primary opponent, in a Dec. 22 general election.

“The people spoke and they liked what I had to say and they liked the issues that I bring to the table,” Kelly said. “They realized who the best candidate is [and] who is more qualified for the position.”

Owens was relieved to reach the runoff. He finished 23 votes ahead of Leyshon. Owens said he’ll spend the next two weeks trying to galvanize support.

“We’re going to hit it hard,” he said Tuesday night. “I’ve got my dream team [meeting] tomorrow.”

Both GOP finalists said Tuesday’s wet weather deterred some people from going to the polls. Fewer than 1,000 votes were cast.

Kelly said he might have avoided a runoff with clearer weather.

“It probably could have been much better for me had the rain not come,” he said.

Along with the rain, Owens said there was confusion at a few precincts because some poll workers didn’t realize there were ballots being cast for both the District 3 race and the city of Myrtle Beach election.

Sandy Martin, director of the county’s Voter Registration and Elections Office, confirmed that some poll workers were confused initially, but the problems were corrected Tuesday morning.

“Everything was pretty smooth,” she said.

The special election is being held to fill the seat vacated by Marion Foxworth, who stepped down in August to become the county’s register of deeds.

Foxworth held the seat for nearly 14 years. The district covers much of the city of Myrtle Beach and part of Carolina Forest.

Leading up to Tuesday’s primary, all four Republicans campaigned on promises to beef up the county police force and improve roads in Carolina Forest.

Kelly and Owens tried to distinguish themselves in different ways. A retired police officer, the 59-year-old Kelly touted his law enforcement background. He also stressed that he doesn’t have a criminal record and Owens, 48, does.

As the only Myrtle Beach native in the race, Owens campaigned on his ties to the community and maintained that the district didn’t want an outsider as its representative.

After the rain, the precinct problems and the recent criticism over his criminal history, Owens said he was glad to reach the runoff.

“I’m surprised that we done as good as we did,” he said.

Kelly, meanwhile, said his campaign strategy will remain the same.

“Nothing’s going to change,” he said. “Business as usual for the next two weeks.”

The winner of the special election will represent District 3 for the remainder of the term, which runs through next year. County Council members are paid an annual salary of $15,966.

This story was originally published November 3, 2015 at 9:29 PM with the headline "Kelly, Owens reach runoff for Horry County Council District 3."