Results: Mikey Masciarelli heading to Horry County Council after run off election
Realtor and former Planning Commission member Mikey “Mash” Masciarelli trounced Brandon Skipper in his run for the District 8 seat on Horry County Council on Tuesday, according to unofficial election results.
Those results showed Masciarelli winning 56% of the vote and Skipper winning 44% of the vote with 100% of precincts reporting. County and state election officials will certify the results in coming days.
“I’m wore out for the first time in my life,” Masciarelli said Tuesday evening, noting that he had walked 200 miles in recent weeks knocking on doors and was “overwhelmed” by the support he received.
“Going door-to-door and the treatment I got from people inviting me into their house, offering me a beer, ‘Hey do you want a martini?’, ‘Here sit down and eat with us,’ it was overwhelming,” he said. “People inviting me in listening to what I have to say…I’m overwhelmed.”
Masciarelli’s victory means yet another new face will join Horry County Council next year after two other council members and Chairman Johnny Gardner lost their seats. Masciarelli replaces Johnny Vaught, who served two terms but stepped down to run for chairman, a race he lost. The district encompasses the Forestbrook area, between Conway and Socastee.
Masciarelli won the seat in part by convincing voters that he could ask developers hard questions from the council dais to ensure that new building wouldn’t be burdensome to residents. In a March interview with The Sun News, Masciarelli described himself as pro-growth but said the council needed to do more to ensure infrastructure, like news roads, was keeping up with the building.
“There has to be a common ground between residents and growth,” he said. “It comes down to compromise.”
Masciarelli’s victory also underscores how much Horry County has grown and changed in recent years. Originally from Pennsylvania, Masciarelli arrived in Horry County via his son, who attended Coastal Carolina University.
He said that experience, plus realizing that the county lacks jobs for young professionals, pushed him to run for office. He said he wants to focus on economic development and luring new companies to the county as part of his work as a councilman. He said his daughter moved away from Horry County because she couldn’t find a job.
“It killed me to have my child move away. She said, ‘Dad there’s no employment here where I can make the money I could be making,’” he said in March. “I feel the need to have a younger base here, people in their 20s and their 30s. The seesaw is all one sided.”
Masciarelli said he also supports the county building more affordable housing and constructing Interstate 73 to help the county diversify.
Masciarelli, currently a realtor for Berkshire Hathaway, has previously worked as a Wall Street investor and a law enforcement officer. He moved to Horry County in 2014.
On Tuesday, Masciarelli said he would spend some time watching and listening on council before diving in to tackle the development and infrastructure issues he wants to work on. He said he also wants to be a council member who is frequently out in the community and at local schools speaking to people.
He said he views himself as working for the people of his district.
“I want to go out there and give myself, I’m nobody special, I’m your employee,” he said. “I’ve never let an employer down and I don’t intend to let these people down.”
This story was originally published June 28, 2022 at 9:19 PM.
