Primary results: 2 Horry County Council members lose, open seat headed to run off
Tuesday’s primary elections were a mixed bag for Horry County Council, with two incumbents losing their seats, an open seat heading to a run off and other incumbents cruising comfortably to re-election.
The contest for chair of the 12-member council is also headed to a run off in two weeks after incumbent Chairman Johnny Gardner and former chairman Mark Lazarus besting two other challengers but failing to win a majority.
In the council’s North Myrtle Beach-area district, longtime council member Harold Worley — who’s served on the council since 1999 — lost his seat to political newcomer Jenna Dukes, a pharmacist in the Cherry Grover area.
And in the council’s Conway-area district, incumbent Orton Bellamy, the only Black member of council, lost his re-election bid to former Conway City Council member Tom Anderson. Anderson had lost his city council seat in the 2019 municipal elections.
Meanwhile, the Forestbrook-area district, between S.C. 544 and U.S. 501, will head to a June 28 run-off election after Brandon Skipper and Planning Commission member Mikey Masciarelli failed to win a majority over the other challengers. That seat was open this year because council member Johnny Vaught, who’s held the seat for two terms, ran for council chairman where he failed to advance to the run off.
Several incumbents, too, won re-election and will serve additional four-year terms.
Tuesday’s primary results amount to a shakeup of the council, and one that will see the first woman sit on the dias in more than a decade. Here’s how the results break down.
First woman on council in a decade, and a longtime council member defeated
Dukes, 36, and a West Virginia native, ousted Horry County Council’s longest-serving member on Tuesday, Harold Worley. She’ll be the first woman on county council in more than a decade since former Chairwoman Liz Gilland left office.
Worley has been in politics since the 1980s and won his first election to county council in 1998, taking office the next year.
Dukes’ victory marks a major upset for the county, and Gardner told reporters Wednesday he was disappointed to see Worley go.
Dukes’ campaign attracted tens of thousands of dollars from high-profile developers — she raised nearly $130,000 in all — and Worley attempted to paint her as a politician bought off by special interests. Dukes’ campaign in turn attempted to paint Worley as a career politician.
She’s said she supports a balanced approach to growth that emphasizes building new infrastructure. Worley was among the council members willing to take developers to task. In the end, voters bought Dukes’ message, sending her to victory with 59% of the vote.
Dukes, in an interview Thursday, said she was “ecstatic” about her victory. She said she’s excited to get to work and wants to focus on strengthening the relationship between the cities and county, increasing the public safety budget and working on infrastructure projects.
“I’m very grateful to all of our residents, the turnout was phenomenal and our entire community worked very, very hard to get our voice out there and be heard,” Dukes said. “They deserve a round of applause.”
Worley did not return a call seeking comment. Dukes said she has not spoken to Worley since her victory.
Conway-Bucksport area seat changes hands
The Horry County Council district that encompasses Conway as well as the rural communities along S.C. 707, including Bucksport, will have new leadership.
Bellamy, who beat Harold Phillips in 2018 to flip the council’s last Democratic seat to Republican, lost on Tuesday to Anderson, a former Conway City Council member.
Bellamy in recent years focused considerable attention on Bucksport and other rural areas along S.C. 707, which could emerge as the next frontier for development in coming years.
Anderson, though, carried the primary with 52% of the vote, besting both Bellamy and Jeanette Spurlock, who was previously a candidate for Congress.
Anderson was voted off of Conway City Council in 2019. While in office, he supported downtown redevelopment efforts among other priorities.
Bellamy, in an interview Thursday, thanked the people of his district for electing him in 2018. He said he plans to run again in 2026.
“It was phenomenal to serve,” Bellamy said. “We’ve had tremendous progress these last four years.”
A run-off election in Forestbrook
With Vaught running for council chairman, his council seat in the Forestbrook area was up for grabs.
Four candidates ultimately declared runs for the position, including Masciarelli, a current Planning Commission member appointed by Vaught, and Skipper, an insurance salesman.
Masciarelli won 34% of the vote while Skipper won 28%.
Masciarelli and Skipper are headed to a run-off election in two weeks and Masciarelli said he’ll continue knocking doors and explaining to voters why his background as a real estate agent and county planner puts him at an advantage to tackle the county’s growth.
“I know who the (developers) are, I know who the players are. I know who the difficult ones are, I know who the ones are that want to make positive change,” Masciarelli said. “If elected I don’t have to start from scratch. I’ve got the ability to be effective and I can hit the ground running.”
Skipper did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
Incumbents hang onto seats
Several incumbent council members on Tuesday managed to hold onto their their seats.
One, Myrtle Beach-area council member Bill Howard, bested challenger Dean Richardson with 63% of the vote.
Additionally, Garden City-area council member Tyler Servant and Aynor-area council member Al Allen faced no primary challengers. They’ll appear on the November ballots unopposed.
Chairman’s race not over yet
An exact rematch of four years ago, Gardner and Lazarus will face off once again for control of Horry County Council, a position akin to that of a mayor.
With four challengers in the race, no candidate won more than 50% of the vote. Lazarus snagged 39% of the vote while Gardner won 25%.
Gardner on Wednesday said it was “odd” to have an exact rematch of 2018 but said he would continue to focus on public safety and “smart growth” as new building continues and new residents continue to move here.
“(I’m) not changing a thing,” Gardner said. “The people were happy when they elected me. I think we’ve done a good job, we’ve focused on what the actual people wanted, public safety, smart growth and those things are good for everybody. We’re going to keep doing it and see what they say.”
Lazarus has criticized Gardner for implementing impact fees too quickly and said he wouldn’t let upset residents “shut down” the county’s growth.
Lazarus didn’t immediately return a call for comment.
This story was originally published June 16, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
