With several candidates announcing a bid for the 7th Congressional seat, U.S. Rep. Tom Rice will enter a crowded Republican primary field for the first time since the district was established a decade ago.
The unusual competition follows his controversial vote to impeach then-President Donald Trump a week after the Capitol riot, which drew fierce backlash from constituents and a formal censure from the S.C. Republican Party.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 have any members who are supporting Tom Rice,鈥 Shannon Grady, president of the Horry County Women鈥檚 Republican Club, said of the five-term incumbent.
Horry County Republican Party Executive Committee Members Chad Caton and Audrey Hudson reported similar sentiments, as did former HCGOP Chairwoman Dreama Perdue, who said, 鈥淭o be honest, I think the reason they鈥檙e running is the one thing that Tom Rice did when he impeached the president.鈥
The race has attracted national attention for its political and economic implications: the deep-red district, which carried for Trump in 2016 and 2020, will not only serve as a testing ground for congressional Republicans who supported impeachment 鈥 Rice was one of 10 鈥 it will select the Washington representative for South Carolina鈥檚 fastest growing region and one of its key tourist destinations.
Since receiving Trump鈥檚 coveted endorsement in February, state Rep. Russell Fry has widely been considered the most viable challenger.
鈥淐ongressman Tom Rice of South Carolina, the coward who abandoned his constituents by caving to Nancy Pelosi and the Radical Left, and who actually voted against me on Impeachment Hoax #2, must be thrown out of office ASAP 鈥 and we have just the man to do it (sic),鈥 Trump wrote in a statement. 鈥淎merica First Champion Russell Fry has been a leading fighter on Election Integrity, is pro-life, pro-God, pro-Gun and, very importantly, pro-LOW Taxes.鈥
Fry was also in attendance at state Rep. Heather Ammons Crawford鈥檚 re-election announcement in February, which included Gov. Henry McMaster, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and S.C. House Speaker Jay Lucas. Rice did not attend.
Fry can tout his 2017-2019 chairmanship of the House Opioid Abuse Prevention Study Committee, which produced a report recommending, among other things, expanding medication-assisted treatment, improving prescription disposal and allocating settlement funds from lawsuits against opioid manufacturers and distributors to treatment.
The last recommendation came to fruition in November when S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson reached a $26 billion civil settlement with three opioid distributors and a manufacturer. After Myrtle Beach approved its part of the settlement in January, city spokesman Mark Kruea said over $4 million of that money would go towards treatment in the area.
While Fry boasts strong connections and popular initiatives, some note that he offers little in the way of change.
Estimating that 鈥80%鈥 of her club members were 鈥渟plit between between Fry and (Ken) Richardson,鈥 the Horry County Schools Board of Education chairman, Grady said, 鈥淭hose for Richardson think (Fry) is Tom Rice in a suit.鈥
In August, Fry told that he disagreed with Rice’s vote to raise the federal debt ceiling, saying he supported spending limits and cuts to government spending. But otherwise, critics say the two seem to be in lockstep.
Both support I-73, an interstate proposal that would link the Myrtle Beach area to I-95 to streamline trade routes, reduce traffic congestion and facilitate storm evacuations. To proceed, I-73 would require funding from state, local and federal bodies.
Rice and Fry generally hew to the mainstream GOP agenda 鈥 and share a relationship dating back years.
鈥淗e is Tom Rice鈥檚 illegitimate political son,鈥 Caton said. 鈥淩ussell Fry has been under Tom Rice鈥檚 wing for a long time.鈥
Horry County Schools Board Chairman Ken Richardson is also campaigning for Rice's seat. To some, Richardson has appeal as the less establishment-oriented option, though he has courted controversy on the school board.聽
Richardson has sometimes struggled to balance pandemic-related health measures with demands for a full return to normalcy in the face of an HCGOP that has largely opposed COVID-related restrictions, even in the early days of the pandemic.聽
He has also garnered criticism for what some see as poor decision-making. In December, he came under fire for installing $5 million plexiglass enclosures around each student's desk in an attempt to curb the spread of COVID without social distancing.
That month, a report in the Post and Courier quoted an epidemiologist, an aerosol scientist and scientific paper casting doubt on the efficacy of plexiglass, especially when compared to masks and social distancing. It further noted that Horry County Schools did not have data on plexiglass barriers in other schools throughout the state and thus could not compare their transmission rates to schools without them.
The following month, a Forestbrook Elementary teacher was asked to take down a Facebook video calling the enclosures 鈥減rison-like.鈥
While federal lawmakers wield minimal influence over education policy, operatives said his tenure has left a lasting impression on prospective voters.
But Perdue, who said she was supporting Richardson's congressional campaign, defended his performance.
鈥淗e was thinking about the schoolchildren and their safety,鈥 Perdue said. 鈥淧eople are saying he put up the plastic, he did this, he did that 鈥 well, he was following the guidelines.鈥
鈥淚 was the chairman of the (Horry County) Republican Party when he ran for (the Horry County Schools) Board of Education, and worked closely with him,鈥 she added. 鈥淗e can make decisions under pressure.鈥
Tension with the HCGOP over pandemic restrictions does not appear to have let up in recent months.
In December, HCGOP state Rep. Tracy 鈥淏eanz鈥 Diaz slammed Richardson for what she viewed as a tepid response to an S.C Dept. of Education jingle contest, which would donate a $10,000 arts grant to the school with the best COVID vaccine promotion.
鈥淚 reached out to Ken Richardson immediately, who is the chair of the school board here in Horry County, and he was angry and said, 鈥楬orry County Schools will not be participating in this program,鈥欌 Diaz said at the HCGOP鈥檚 December meeting. 鈥淗e said he was going to write a letter to all the schools and let them know they鈥檙e not to promote this, talk about it in the classroom or encourage any of their students to participate in it.
鈥淎nd then he said, 鈥榊ou know what, actually we haven鈥檛 really gotten any complaints about this so we鈥檙e just going to respond to each person if we get a complaint and tell them that,鈥欌 she continued. 鈥淚 really don鈥檛 think that鈥檚 good enough.鈥
Some other candidates have announced an intention to challenge Rice: former Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark McBride and Barbara Arthur.
McBride, who was mayor from 1998 to 2006, is the most experienced. However, he hasn鈥檛 held elected office since losing the mayor's seat to John Rhodes despite running for several other offices. (He ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in 2004; Myrtle Beach city council in 2015; Myrtle Beach mayor in 2017; and state senate in 2020.)
By contrast, Arthur is a newcomer.聽
For her part, Arthur鈥檚 website invokes her heritage. 鈥淎s a Cuban-American, I will fight hard against socialism because my family was ravaged by Castro鈥檚 communist regime,鈥 it reads. 鈥淔or me, this is personal.鈥 Her platform is similarly in line with the party mainstream, excluding her support for term-limits. She doesn鈥檛 specify what the term-limit should be, but calls to amend the constitution via convention.
As the primary approaches, Rice has been promoting his efforts to secure disaster relief for the district and his position on a House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee.
鈥淭raditionally, Republicans don鈥檛 run on spending,鈥 Hudson said. 鈥淏ut you can鈥檛 just bring nothing home. We pay federal dollars, we want a return on investment.鈥
It is unclear how much support this will shore up. Candidates are likely to agree on storm relief due to the region's susceptibility to natural disasters, and subcommittees are largely tasked with preliminary processes, rather than drafting legislation.
But for all the uphill battles he faces, few interviewed were willing to write off Rice鈥檚 prospects entirely.
鈥淭om Rice has had that seat every year since it was created and I think people are just ready for new representation,鈥 Hudson said. 鈥淢y guess is that it will be a runoff between Tom Rice and Russell.鈥
For her part, Perdue said Rice 鈥渟hot himself in the foot with the impeachment vote,鈥 but added that he still could retain his seat.
鈥淭here is a chance he can win,鈥 she said. 鈥淗e made a huge mistake, but that鈥檚 where we are.鈥
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