Thursday, Nov. 05, 2009

Myrtle Beach mayoral hopefuls ready for runoff

Though the Myrtle Beach mayoral runoff was inevitable with a five-way race, at least one political expert says Tuesday night's election results offered some twists.

"One thing that's surprising - and, I think, a barometer for the runoff - is [Councilman] Wayne Gray's decisive win," Coastal Carolina University political science professor Paul Peterson said. He said the fact that the other two council incumbents are still in the race is an indication that the May motorcycle rallies and the 1 percent sales tax for tourism promotion weren't as heavy factors as people thought they would be.

"Gray's win indicates it wasn't just the policy issues," Peterson said, because all four incumbents are still in the race. "Maybe much of the discontent with [Mayor John] Rhodes was more about personality."

While people on both sides are spinning Tuesday's vote count to favor their candidate - with Mark McBride's supporters saying 53 percent of the city voted against Rhodes and Rhodes' supporters countering that 73 percent of the city voted against McBride - Peterson said it's Bill Howard's 944 votes that stand out, in a way.

"Howard's votes were anti-Rhodes votes cast by those who couldn't stomach McBride, either," he said.

Either way, neither of the two remaining Myrtle Beach mayoral candidates is a stranger to a runoff election.

The showdown between Rhodes and McBride has played out previously.

Tuesday night, McBride said he's in the position he prefers, because the second-place finisher often wins the runoff.

It's the position from which Rhodes defeated McBride in 2005, and the position from which McBride first reached the mayor's seat in 1997 by beating Mayor Robert M. Grissom.

This time, though, the numbers look a little different.

Here are the numbers from the 2005 race when Rhodes and McBride faced Judy Rodman in the first race for mayor:

Total votes cast | 4,497

McBride | 1,656 votes, or 36.8 percent

Rhodes | 1,476 votes, or 32.8 percent

Rodman | 1,362 votes, or 30.2 percent

This year, Rhodes received 2,540 of 5,389 votes, or 47 percent.

McBride received 1,472 votes, or 27 percent.

Rhodes needed 155 more votes to win outright.

McBride needed his votes, plus all of Bill Howard's 944 votes, all of Matthew McCarty's 222 votes, and 57 of Bea Catalano's 167 votes to win outright.

Peterson said Rhodes' garnering of 47 percent of the vote in a five-way race shows he has strong support.

But voter turnout tends to drop in runoff elections, and if candidates want to win, they are going to have to get out the vote. He said Rhodes' supporters could become complacent because he did so well the first time around, though much of McBride's support came from precincts that traditionally have lower voter turnout.

For example, McBride's biggest block of votes (264) came from the Sea Oats 1 precinct, with 2,013 registered voters. Turnout there was 25 percent. Rhodes'biggest block of votes (545) came from the Dunes precinct, with 1,714 voters. Turnout there was 46.6 percent.

Citywide turnout was about 38 percent, city spokesman Mark Kruea said. Four years ago, turnout was about 32 percent, he said.

In 2007, when only three council members were running, turnout was about 20 percent, Kruea said.

Neither of the council incumbents, Chuck Martino or Randal Wallace, are strangers to runoffs, either. This is the third one for each. And challenger Mike Lowder, who could snatch a seat from one of them, is in his third run for council, so he has campaign experience, too.

The first campaign was awash in negativity, mostly aimed at the incumbents, prompting some people to say it was the ugliest race they could remember.

"I had to put mudflaps on my car just to get into the city," Horry County Council Chairwoman Liz Gilland said Tuesday night after watching the returns.

Rhodes spent a portion of Wednesday thanking his supporters and being interviewed by local reporters, but was also ready for the runoff, and said he plans to keep the campaign positive and talk about issues.

McBride said he was ready to move forward talking about issues such as the economy, taxes and crime, and seeking support from also-rans and voters.

He said Howard had already pledged his support.

He also let it be known Tuesday night that the gloves are off, however, after saying he had been the focus of "mudslinging."