HORRY COUNTY – The Horry County Republican Party flexed its muscles in 2020, distinguishing itself as a conservative powerhouse for South Carolina.
While Upstate tends to be seen as the Republican stronghold in SC, Horry County is quickly defending the most intense red area in the state of Palmetto.
No opposing party holds a seat on the Horry County Council or the Horry County Schools Board of Education – giving party members unparalleled control over millions of local tax dollars.
The state delegation is also overwhelmingly Republican, with only a few Democrats occupying corners of the county. And Republican members of the delegation are increasing in political prominence, with members serving as whips and top committee chairs in Columbia.
Just one county away from Rep. Jim Clyburn, who is one of the most powerful Democratic politicians in the country, is Rep. Tom Rice, who has held the Horry County congressional seat as a Republican since his start in 2010.
City councils in Myrtle Beach or Conway are non-partisan entities and remain the only place where Republican control is not explicitly shown.
But it was not always so. In fact, many local politicians started out as conservative members of another party. Redistricting, demographic change and party politics forever changed the party in Horry County.
Party building
Horion County Stock Registry Marion Foxworth and former Horry County Council member said that when he initially became involved in politics in the 1980s, there was little or no Republican party and all activity was in the Democratic party.
“The Republican Party could meet in a phone booth,” said Foxworth. “This is the case for all of South Carolina.”
As in many areas of the South at the time, the party’s demographics were changing slowly. During the middle and late 20th century, Horry County began to shift from a democratic area to a more republican one. The changes represented a general party upheaval, even if the area remained conservative before and after that reversal.
Former Myrtle Beach Council member Randal Wallace started his political career as a 9-year-old child doing research with his neighbors before the 1980 elections. He found that 30 of his neighbors in Myrtle Beach supported Ronald Reagan, while just over 10 supported Jimmy Carter.
Wallace became involved with the party in the 1980s, learning from many of the people who helped build the Republican brand locally. Unlike today, Republicans in office were no guarantee during those days, and the party actively worked to turn Democrats for life and attract the growing number of foreigners who moved to Horry County to retire.
“We were building a party at that time,” said Wallace, saying that there were not many Republicans in elected positions when he joined the party as a teenager. “At that time they were all Democrats until, God, Campbell appeared.”
Carroll Campbell served as Republican governor from 1987 to 1995. Wallace attributes his victory at the state level as a major turning point for Republicans in Horry County and throughout South Carolina.
Foxworth ran for Horry County Council as a Democrat for the first time in 1995 – what he calls a period of republican domination. Although he lost, Foxworth finally got his seat on the council years later.
“It is not difficult to find people who started their careers as a Democrat and changed their party,” he said.
The Horry County Republican Party in the early days had an office in the “flatiron building” in Myrtle Beach, close to where US 501 had turned toward US 17, a giant cutout of President Ronald Reagan’s head strategically placed in front of the second floor greeted travelers heading towards the beach placed there by local Republican leader Al Terrell.
“Everyone would see it when you turned the corner. Al was a good promoter to get the party started and he was a great Reagan, ”said Wallace. “This is the kind of thing we did all the time … we had some great promoters.”
As the party grew, so did its prominence in state politics and national politics. Soon names like Alan Clemmons and Lois Eargle became involved with the party and began to shape political careers for decades.
Another local Republican luminary, Robert Rabon, has succeeded in bringing top politicians to the area, including helping to secure a 2008 presidential debate in Myrtle Beach.
Wallace keeps memories of important political visitors at his home, documenting the Republican Party’s rise in Myrtle Beach. Photo albums show visitors like President George HW Bush, Reagan, Senator John McCain, as well as Democratic Senator who became Republican Strom Thurman and a young Lindsey Graham, all competing for support in the growing Republican stronghold.
Rabon was famous for making the local party what it is today, hosting events and making new members feel included, resulting in a county largely run by a political party.
The Republican Party has also become the dominant party thanks to Al Terrell, the party’s leadership and the party’s reach to newcomers who have moved to the county, Foxworth said.
“He probably deserves most of the credit for the Republican Party’s rise from a popular point of view,” Foxworth said.
“It is an indication of how the party did a better job of welcoming new residents,” he said. “Now they are coming in much bigger waves and you are starting to see the cumulative effect of that.”
A united 2020
For the time being, the Republican Party remains strong in Horry County, with little sign of reversal. In 2018, Republicans in Horry County won a historically Democratic seat on the Horry County Council. Current council member Orton Bellamy won the seventh district of the red council for the first time in decades.
During the 2020 general election, Horry County re-elected its Republican leaders by a wide margin. In many cases, no member of an opposing party was even on the ballot. Only six races attracted opponents of the Democratic party, leaving 22 races with only one Republican representing one of the main parties.
In contested races, Republican candidates obtained more than 60 percent of the vote, according to information provided by SCVotes.gov.
In addition, when voters voted on November 3, a large percentage did not even bother to consider a member of the Democratic Party. Instead of selecting individual candidates, 51 percent of Horry County voters chose a direct Republican ticket – one of the highest percentages of direct voting in the state.
Republican control does not create political unity, however, in Horry County. The party primaries held in June are often the only chance voters have of actually having a choice at the polls.
During the June 9 primaries, there were 13 contested primaries for the Republican nomination. The vast majority of these winners did not face any opponents in November.
These races are disputed and often involve more political staging than local general election races. The Republican Party is currently divided on issues such as I-73, levels of taxation and how to deal with growth and floods. There is also a political divide between east and west in Horry County, representing the most urban and rural areas in the county.
Although the county has seen extreme growth that is expected to continue, the Republican Party has remained strong.
And with regard to why those who move to the area continue to vote in the red, Foxworth points out the quote: “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”.