TheSunNews.com: Politics

Runoff calls Myrtle Beach to polls

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:59 EST

Runoff elections are nothing new in Myrtle Beach, and they are nothing new for most of the candidates people can vote for Tuesday.

Mayoral candidates Mark McBride and Mayor John Rhodes have faced each other before, and for incumbents Chuck Martino and Randal Wallace, facing challenger Mike Lowder, this will be their third runoff each.

The procedure for voting in the runoff is the same as for the regular election, officials said.

Q & A with the Myrtle Beach mayoral candidates

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:22 EST

Here's how the Myrtle Beach mayoral candidates responded to a series of questions about the city.

Mark Struthers McBride

1. What are your goals and priorities for the city?

Myrtle Beach council hopefuls speak out online

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 06:40 EST

The three remaining candidates vying for two seats on the Myrtle Beach City Council in Tuesday's runoff - incumbents Chuck Martino and Randal Wallace, and challenger Mike Lowder - joined The Sun News on Friday for a live online chat with readers. The following are excerpts from the conversation; for the full chat transcript, visit TheSunNews.com.

Reader: Are Chuck and Randal comfortable accepting monies that, apparently, at least some of it has been funneled through defunct corporations that were dissolved for failure to pay taxes?

Chuck Martino: I have said I will return any money that is determined to have been donated improperly, even if I have to take a loan to do so, but I would rather give it to a local charity.

Ethics panel: Gilland owes $260,000

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:31 EST

The S.C. Ethics Commission filed a judgment for $260,500 against Horry County Council Chairwoman Liz Gilland, according to online court records.

The judgment was filed on Tuesday, the same day that Gilland said she went to Columbia to meet with Ethics Commission staff to straighten out paperwork from missing 2006 campaign finance reports. The failure to file resulted in 11 violations being filed against Gilland and as of August 26, a $300,100 fine that was scheduled to accrue $1,100 in additional fines every day that Gilland had not filed the paperwork.

"I went to Columbia and spent several hours with staff and at the end the only thing I was missing were a few dates. The commission didn't mention anything to me about a judgment. In fact, I was given an outline of steps I needed to follow to file an appeal," Gilland said Thursday. "I was never told I would not be allowed to appeal. I was told to send the missing dates along with a letter asking for theopportunity to appeal to the director. I was told that the appeal would likely be pushed with a handful of other appeals to the January meeting of the commission since it meets every other month and the November meeting was full."

Jenny Sanford backs Haley to succeed her husband

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:52 EST

Disgraced South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford might not have much political capital these days, but his wife is using hers.

First lady Jenny Sanford endorsed Republican state Rep. Nikki Haley in a letter made public Wednesday to succeed her term-limited husband in 2011.

Mark Sanford has long complimented Haley for her efforts to make the legislature more accountable, including by forcing more roll call votes.

Protests filed after election hearing in Atlantic Beach

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:46 EST

A hearing of challenged ballots in Atlantic Beach held Thursday booted one woman out of the winner's circle of Town Council candidates and leaves questions about who will ultimately sit on the council.

The two write-in candidates, Windy Price and Carolyn Cole, were named the winners in the election Thursday.

After Tuesday's election, incumbent councilwoman Charlene Taylor had the second largest number of votes, but after the commission voted to accept 28 of the 39 challenged ballots, most of which voted for both Price and Cole, Taylor came up short for the votes needed to win one of the two council seats.

Myrtle Beach mayoral hopefuls ready for runoff

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:46 EST

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."

Graham, Clyburn feted for racial harmony

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:34 EST

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn and Sen. Lindsey Graham, both sons of the segregated South, grew up in parts of South Carolina that were much farther apart than the mere 175 miles between them.

Tonight, the two men - a black Democrat from Sumter in the Midlands and a white Republican from the small Upstate town of Central - will share an honor that the Jim Crow laws of their youth would have prohibited.

The Columbia Urban League will present to Clyburn and Graham its annual Whitney M. Young Award in recognition of their efforts to advance race relations in South Carolina.

Myrtle Beach voters favor familiar faces for top offices

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:43 EST

In a repeat of the 2005 election, the two Myrtle Beach mayoral frontrunners - Mayor John Rhodes and former mayor Mark McBride - will face each other in a showdown.

They'll continue to duke it out until a runoff is held in two weeks, because neither earned 50 percent of the votes plus one Tuesday. Rhodes, though, holds a large lead over McBride.

With 5,389 votes cast in the mayoral race, an outright winner needed 2,694. Rhodes earned 2,540, and McBride earned 1,472.

North Myrtle Beach keeps mayor, council

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:17 EST

The face of the North Myrtle Beach City Council will remain the same with the re-election of Marilyn Hatley to her third term and the return of three incumbent council members.

Hatley defeated her three opponents: Gary Montgomery Stephens, C. Gene Sheppard, and Dawn M. Lampen. Council member Gregory Duckworth defeated his opponent James Blaine Robertson for the Windy Hill seat.

Terry White and Robert Cavanaugh ran unopposed for the Ocean Drive seat and an at-large seat, respectively.

Write-in takes the lead in Atlantic Beach

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:16 EST

An incumbent and a write-in candidate who was eliminated from the ballot are in the lead for two seats on the Atlantic Beach Town Council.

Windy Price - who was left off the ballot because of questions surrounding her residency and because of turning in a form late - received 40 votes in Tuesday's election.

Incumbent councilwoman Charlene Taylor received 39. Josephine Isom, also an incumbent, garnered 32 votes, with write-in candidate Carolyn Cole shortly behind with 28 and long-time town critic Paul Curry collecting 5.

Conway City Council election results

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:09 EST

Three seats

Randy Alford (i) | 594

Complete election results for Horry, Georgetown, Brunswick counties

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:49 EST

Here's a look at all the races covered in today's paper and what page they are on:

South Carolina

Myrtle Beach

Aynor election results

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:18 EST

Town Council

Two seats

John Gardner (i) | 47

Briarcliffe Acres election results

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:19 EST

Mayor

Ken Corbett

(i, unopposed)| 204

Mudslinging trend accompanies Myrtle Beach campaigns

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 01:55 EDT

On the outside looking in, this year's municipal election in Myrtle Beach might appear interesting.

But from the inside, it's nasty.

"This is the dirtiest election season," said Myrtle Beach City Councilwoman Susan Grissom Means, a longtime political insider and daughter of former Myrtle Beach Mayor Robert M. Grissom. "I've never seen as much mudslinging as I have this year."

Donation info out for Myrtle Beach contests

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:51 EDT

The 18 candidates for Myrtle Beach City Council this year have raised more than $200,000, with more than half the donations going to the four incumbents.

With five days to go until voters cast their ballots, the most recent filings are almost all available for public examination and show how different financial support has been for incumbents and challengers.

This has been a particularly contentious campaign, with much of the focus on the city's efforts to quell the May motorcycle rallies, flavored with questions about campaign contributions.

Myrtle Beach City Council to review tax report

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 06:25 EDT

People will get their first look at how the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce is spending the tax revenue raised by a controversial citywide sales tax implemented this summer.

At today's Myrtle Beach City Council meeting, chamber representatives will present their first quarterly update on out-of-market promotion expenses as the council requested.

The update follows the chamber's promise to be transparent with how the money is spent, city spokesman Mark Kruea said.

McBride holds public meeting

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:30 EDT

About 100 people gathered Thursday to hear former Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark McBride lay out reasons he believes the incumbents should not be returned to office next week, and he laid out a few initiatives he believes should get him elected again to the mayor's seat.

During a meeting at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center, McBride said he supports making new development pay its share in a 50-50 deal with the city, redesigning streets to better control traffic and expanding the city by taking in at least part of Lewis Oceans Bay Heritage Preserve.

The former mayor, who is in a five-way race for the seat he lost to current Mayor John Rhodes in 2005, spoke for most of his one-hour-and-45-minute presentation about why he's running, citing people who asked and encouraged him to make a bid for the seat this year.

Election Day: Area voters making their final decisions today

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:43 EST

Election Day is here, and for most area cities and town, the results should tell the story by Wednesday morning.

But predictions of runoffs in at least two races - Myrtle Beach mayor and City Council - and perhaps in the also crowded Georgetown and North Myrtle Beach mayor's races, mean the suspense may linger.

With five candidates for Myrtle Beach mayor and 12 candidates for three open council seats, the majority of the council could turn over today. But political watchers predict the slugfest for mayor won't be over in one voting. The May motorcycle rallies and the 1 percent sales tax are galvanizing issues that prompted some first-time candidates to jump into this year's race.