2022 will be a big year for Horry County. Here’s what to watch for.
By the time it’s all over, 2022 could stack up to be a historic year for Horry County.
For one, voters will head to the polls in June to cast ballots for the chairman of county council, the chairman of the school board and their representative in Congress. Tom Rice (R-Myrtle Beach), the current representative, is already facing an uphill battle as he seeks re-election.
And then there’s I-73, the long-dreamed interstate connection from Myrtle Beach to I-95 near Dillon. Will the project win the major funding commitments it needs to move forward? 2022 could be the deciding year.
Here’s everything to watch out for in 2022 so you don’t miss a beat in Horry County.
First things first: Maps
In the early months of 2022, Horry County leaders will finalize the county’s redistricting maps, based off of the 2020 U.S. Census, which will shape local elections for the next decade. This is significant because the voting maps, for the first time, will concentrate some of the fastest-growing areas of the county into their own districts, potentially streamlining representation of those areas. Carolina Forest, for example, will have only one county council and school board representative, as will the Forestbrook area. The S.C. 90 corridor, too, will be more unified than it is today as well.
Expect to see a lot of chatter and movement on the redistricting maps in the early days of 2022. The county committee drawing the new maps will hold another public hearing to receive feedback on Jan. 5 at 6 p.m. in County Council Chambers in Conway. The committee has already made changes to the map in response to public feedback so it’s possible the map could change again in January.
Following that public hearing, the committee will meet again, vote on a final draft map, and send the plans on to county council for three votes. The map could win full approval in mid-to-late February, ahead of the March deadline for candidates to announce they’re running for office.
Politics, politics, politics
The 7th congressional race
Regardless of who wins and who loses, 2022 will be a significant year for Horry County politics.
For one, Rep. Rice is up for re-election and is facing a crowded field of challengers, some of whom have managed to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars in their efforts to oust him. Typically a lower-key affair, Rice’s re-election campaign this time around has drawn significant money and attention because Rice was one of 10 Republicans in January to vote to impeach former president Donald Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Rice has said he voted to impeach Trump — despite Trump leaving office a week after the vote — because he felt Trump violated the U.S. Constitution by encouraging his supporters to interfere in an official duty of Congress. He’s said he supported Trump throughout his presidency and voted for his policies 94% of the time, but that he couldn’t support the former president’s actions on Jan. 6.
That caused a number of challengers to announce campaigns for Rice’s seat. As of the October fundraising deadline, Rice has raised $1.3 million so far this cycle, while five of Rice’s challengers have raised more than $100,000, including state Rep. Russell Fry (R-Surfside Beach) and Ken Richardson, the chairman of the Horry County Board of Education. Conservative media personality Graham Allen has raised the most so far: $738,000.
Rice’s campaign manager, Walter Whetsell, a well-known GOP political operative based in Columbia, has expressed optimism about Rice’s prospects despite the crowded field, though several of Rice’s challengers have been capitalizing on their local name recognition and fundraising abilities.
Two important county-wide races
When Richardson announced he was running against Rice for Congress, he noted that he wouldn’t be seeking a second term as chairman of the Horry County Board of Education. That means his seat is open next year.
It’s not clear who will run to replace Richardson — no candidates have announced their candidacy yet — but whoever runs for, and wins, the seat will oversee a school district with a $615.4 million annual budget that serves the fastest-growing county in South Carolina.
Additionally, Horry County Council Chairman Johnny Gardner is up for re-election next year. Gardner first won office in 2018 in an upset victory over Mark Lazarus. Though his term in office has been marked by substantial controversy — including a SLED investigation and the attempted firing of former County Administrator Chris Eldridge — Gardner has also overseen multiple county budgets during the coronavirus pandemic and has helped enact major upgrades to county building standards aimed at preventing flooding and helped the county implement impact fees on new development for the first time.
It’s not yet clear if any candidates will challenge Gardner. Council member Dennis DiSabato, who had previously considered running, said in late December he would not run against Gardner, saying he wanted to instead dedicate his time to his family and law career.
Will I-73 win funding?
After a federal judge in early September ruled that environmental permits for Interstate 73 could stand despite environmental challenges, politicians at all levels began earnest efforts to fund the highway that would connect Horry County to I-95, the Grand Strand’s first-ever such connection.
In recent weeks, both Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach announced that the two municipalities would commit funds to the project. Horry County Council previously considered committing funds to the project, but members voted the plan down.
Gov. Henry McMaster, though, in October, announced that he would commit $300 million to the project. That money will have to win the approval of state lawmakers when they return to Columbia in January. It’s not yet clear if the legislature will approve the funding, but if lawmakers do, it becomes more likely that county council members will also commit funds. And in the event local governments and the state government put funding commitments in place, Rice and others have said, it’s likely federal funding through President Joe Biden’s infrastructure law could come through.
It’s a lot of puzzle pieces that have to fall in place, but if they do, 2022 could be the year I-73 finally wins funding, meaning it’s as close as ever to becoming a reality.
Other road issues
As Horry County grows, resident concerns about the areas roads, bridges and other infrastructure have only increased.
Two factors could shape how the county addresses such issues as we head into next year.
First, are road fees. Road fees are a cost motorists pay annually to drive on South Carolina’s roads which in turn helps pay for repair and maintenance of those roads.
But a lawsuit out of Greenville earlier this year, and a ruling from the state Supreme Court, could put those fees in jeopardy. The lawsuit, which the state’s high court agreed with, argued that such fees were illegal. Spartanburg County, in response, voted to do away with their road fees. A similar lawsuit has already been filed in Horry County.
Horry County leaders have indicated they’ll fight to keep their fees in place, though it could take a change to state law to fully protect the county from a lawsuit like the one from Greenville. 2022 could bring one resolution or another to the road fee matter.
Additionally, Horry County plans to begin the planning process for its fourth Ride Improvement and Design Effort (RIDE IV) in 2022. County leaders hope to form the committee that will recommend road projects for the program this spring, and the committee will get to work by the summer. Extending Gardner Lacy Road to International Drive and improvements to Highway 90 are two projects likely to appear on the committee’s list.
