Hillary Clinton wins Democratic primary in Horry, Georgetown counties

Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton handily won the party’s statewide primary on Saturday as well as in Horry County, where unofficial results from the state election commission show she captured 67.20 percent of the vote to U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 32.47 percent.

The former Secretary of State and first lady also swept Georgetown County with 77.84 percent of the vote while the U.S. senator from Vermont received 21.25 percent.

The Democrats will face off again in next week’s Super Tuesday primaries, across 11 states, to compete for delegates that total nearly 1,000.

“Hillary has a very strong core of support in Horry County, particularly among older women, and I think as well among voters who think that she is the most experienced candidate to take on the Republican nominee,” said Joan Furlong, chairwoman of the Horry County Democratic Party.

“If the opponent is [GOP front-runner Donald] Trump, Hillary will be able to win, and win solidly,” Furlong said.

The turnout in Horry County was light, with 16,675 voters casting ballots, according to Sandy Martin, director of Horry County Registration and Elections.

That’s compared to 54,091 votes cast during the Republican primary last week.

Clinton has maintained a strong lead over Sanders in South Carolina polls since the presidential campaign began in earnest last summer, although she didn’t spend as much time campaigning in the state as the wider field of GOP candidates who are locked in a tight race to overcome frontrunner Trump.

Trump won the South Carolina primary last week, capturing nearly half of all ballots cast in Horry County.

Clinton made only one campaign stop in Myrtle Beach just 48 hours before Saturday’s primary, while Sanders skipped the Grand Strand area entirely, opting to focus instead on major metropolitan cities for larger pockets of Democratic voters.

Several thousand Grand Strand residents lined up to attend Clinton’s town hall meeting at the Sheraton Myrtle Beach Convention Center on Thursday, but less than a thousand were admitted to a room where space was limited to create an intimate setting on a small stage. Afterward, Clinton spent more than 15 minutes shaking hands with numerous supporters.

Sally Howard, chairwoman emeritus of the Horry County Democratic Party, said Horry County was the only county Clinton won in her first South Carolina presidential primary against Obama.

“We had the bragging rights, but the pressure was on to do it again, and we are mighty proud,” said Howard, who was in Columbia for Clinton’s victory party Saturday night.

“It’s a special night that we’ve made history in South Carolina voting for the first woman to be president,” Howard said.

Asked about the low voter turnout, Howard said Democrats were concerned that splitting the primary over a week’s time – with Republicans voting a week ago – might have caused some confusion.

“There was so much publicity around the first primary, I think a lot of people were not paying close attention and might have gone to the polls last week thinking they could vote Democrat, and then once they got there, just went ahead and voted.”

Clinton’s base of support was decades in the making to establish loyal backing from the party’s liberal and moderate base, as well as single-issue voters motivated this election season by attacks from Republicans to defund Planned Parenthood, and race relations in the aftermath of police shootings in St. Louis, Baltimore, and New York City.

Sanders was late to the national campaign game, but galvanized young voters and drew massive crowds at campaign rallies on college campuses, where he promised free admission for higher education to all Americans if elected.

“A lot of young people are voting for Bernie,” said Denise Gervais-Rock, who cast her ballot for the senator at St. James High School.

“Even high school students have opinions on the election and they are voicing those opinions,” Gervais-Rock said. “They’re paying attention to what’s going on and to me, that’s a good sign for the future.”

Although Sanders was absent along the campaign trail through Horry County, Furlong said it did not likely have an impact among his backers.

“His supporters were not going to be swayed by a public appearance here. I think people were committed to their candidate for a while,” Furlong said.

“Having Hillary last week was just icing on the cake,” Furlong said. “The people in Horry County have been hungry to see both candidates, and we were pleased to see the turnout at Hillary’s event.”

Reese Boyd III, Horry County GOP State Executive Committeeman, congratulated Clinton on her South Carolina win.

“It was not really a surprise based on the polls I had seen,” Boyd said.

As for how a Clinton nomination bodes for the Republican party, Boyd said he’s confident of his party’s chances.

“I think any candidate we offer up is preferable to Ms. Clinton or Mr. Sanders, and hope the electorate will see that it’s not a tough choice,” Boyd said.

This story was originally published February 27, 2016 at 9:54 PM with the headline "Hillary Clinton wins Democratic primary in Horry, Georgetown counties."