The Horry GOP wants influence in Myrtle Beach-area elections. Do candidates care?
Horry County Republicans packed the Base Recreation Center in Myrtle Beach on Monday to hear from the candidates running for the area’s seat in Congress.
But two key people were missing from the crowded auditorium — incumbent U.S. Rep. Tom Rice and challenger state Rep. Russell Fry.
Monday’s event was an opportunity for the party’s most loyal supporters to hear from candidates. The problem? Two of the candidates most likely to receive votes didn’t show.
For a county party with new leadership and several contentious primary races this spring, the situation raises an important question: How big of a role will the Horry County Republican Party play this year?
That’s a question that matters as the nation watches the Myrtle Beach-area congressional race. It’s had the spotlight ever since Rice broke from former President Donald Trump, and Trump has sought to replace him. Trump has planned a rally in Florence this weekend to boost Fry, who he’s endorsed, as well as a challenger to incumbent Rep. Nancy Mace in the Charleston area.
The last party leaders — some of whom had close ties to Trump’s inner circle, Gov. Henry McMaster and Sen. Lindsey Graham — were ousted last year at the Horry GOP reorganization convention.
Party activists alleged the former chairwoman, Dreama Purdue, had misspent party money, though Purdue denied those claims. Those allegations, plus an aggressive precinct-organization strategy, stripped Purdue and other longtime party members of leadership roles.
They were replaced by relative newcomers to local politics who have since engaged the party in a number of controversies, including a censure vote for state GOP Chairman Drew McKissick and a defamation lawsuit.
The new leaders — Roger Slagle, Tracy “Beanz” Diaz and Jeremy Halpin — have also steered the party to be more active.
They’ve presented party members with information sessions on alternative COVID-19 treatments, a vote to support a “don’t ask don’t tell” rule for face masks and a resolution to allow party members to endorse candidates in primary elections.
As a result, many elected officials have stayed away from the party’s monthly meetings.
“I have specifically stayed out of very much involvement with the party because it seems like everything has gone crazy, there’s disorganization,” said County Council member Johnny Vaught, a Republican who’s running for Council chairman this year.
“There’s a lot of splintering in the group.”
What remains unclear is if the Horry County GOP, once a center of gravity in South Carolina politics, will retain its effectiveness as the county heads into a season of contested primary elections. In addition to the SC-7 congressional race, voters will also cast ballots for a school board chairman, a county chairman and several state lawmakers this June.
Slagle, for his part, said front-runners not showing up for a party-sponsored forum reflects worse on them than it does the party.
“At the end of the day, it’s about the candidates and what they’re going to do, the votes that they’re going to receive,” Slagle said Monday. “I think that speaks volumes about what they think about the voting constituents in Horry County in the Republican Party.”
Rice, in a statement, said he couldn’t attend Monday’s forum because he was in Washington, D.C. “doing the job my constituents elected me to do.”
He noted, though, that he’ll meet with the Horry County GOP in the future.
Philip Habib, Fry’s campaign manager, said Fry wasn’t at Monday’s forum due to a prior commitment in D.C.
While Rice is seen as the front runner in the race, Fry is seen as a key challenger, in part because he won Trump’s endorsement. Some local Republicans, though, resent Trump’s choice, believing he should have backed someone else. They see Fry as too politically similar to Rice.
The duo’s absence Monday did not go unnoticed. In fact, it seemed to serve as additional evidence for some that Rice should be replaced.
Trump loyalists in Horry County want to replace Rice over his vote to impeach Trump last year for his role in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol Building. Shortly after Rice impeached Trump, the Horry GOP, followed by the South Carolina GOP, voted to censure him.
During one part of his opening speech, school board Chairman Ken Richardson, another top contender, pointed to the other five candidates who attended the forum.
“We’re not enemies,” he said. “We’re all in this thing together. The enemies are Tom Rice and Russell Fry.”
“I think it’s an absolute shame that Tom Rice and Russell Fry didn’t show up tonight,” he added.
Former Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark McBride, another candidate for Congress, also called out Rice and Fry.
But even as front runners and other Republican politicians decline to attend party functions, the Horry GOP is taking steps to ensure it remains an influential force.
For one, the party could vote on a resolution next month that would allow elected and appointed party members to vet and endorse candidates in primary challenges, a change from past practices.
That could lead to vocal support from loyal Republicans and a more active voter base.
The party has other candidate forums scheduled for the coming months, meaning Monday’s no-shows could be a fluke.
But Republicans like Vaught are staying away from the local party.
He said he’d build and run his campaign for chairman without party help. He said he’s retained the Columbia-based consulting firm First Tuesday Strategies for help. And he said while he’s a “dyed in the wool Republican,” he doesn’t want to be part of a group he sees as divisive.
“I don’t like the way they are showing disorganization and showing outright hatred for one another,” he said. “That’s not the kind of party I want to identify with.”
But Slagle said candidates rejecting the party is difficult to understand.
“We’re there, we’re creating a forum for all the candidates,” he said.
“I just find it incomprehensible to not come and speak to the people who will potentially be voting for them.”
This story was originally published March 9, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
