Horry County GOP has new leaders, though not everyone thinks the matter is settled
The Horry County GOP has a fresh slate of officers less than a month before the midterm elections, at least according to a bloc of local and state party executives.
But embattled chairman Roger Slagle, who announced his resignation last month, then rescinded it and his supporters say the group has no authority to hold elections under party rules. The South Carolina GOP disagrees with Slagle’s assessment.
The new officers were selected Tuesday in a move that further deepens an ideological rift among GOP loyalists inside one of South Carolina’s most reliable Republican counties.
Reese Boyd, a Conway native and partner at Myrtle Beach-based Davis & Boyd law firm, was selected chairman by 47 of the county’s 80-person executive committee. Boyd is a former state executive committee representative and Horry County GOP vice chairman.
Robert Visconti, who runs a Myrtle Beach landscaping company, was selected as vice-chairman.
Claire Brady, a spokeswoman for the S.C. GOP, told The Sun News Oct. 10 the organization will only recognize the slate elected Tuesday as Horry County’s valid party leaders.
“Roger Slagle has resigned,” she said. “You can’t rescind a resignation and pretend it never happened — especially when you send notification to local press of your resignation and then proceed to get confirmation from the state party that we received your resignation.”
Ahead of the meeting, provisional chairman Mike Connett said the outcome should allow the county’s party to move forward after 18 tumultuous months.
“We’re going to set a whole new tone and we’re going to get things done,” Connett said. “We’re gong to show this state we are leaders in Horry County and we want to work with our local legislative body.”
That was the message Boyd sent Tuesday, encouraging the party to unite to support common issues as the November election approaches.
“We spend all our energy fighting with one another,” Boyd said. “We’ve been doing that for a while. There’s a lot more that we have to agree about than we have to disagree about.
“There are so many things that matter to us, that matter to our kids, that matter to our grandkids that we’re 100 percent in agreement about. So it’s time to move on from the negativity, from the stupidity.”
Why new party leaders were elected
Slagle announced his resignation on Sept. 12, which the S.C. GOP accepted three days later.
But on Sept. 26, he told the county GOP’s executive committee that he changed his mind and would stay on as chairman during a profanity-laced meeting cut short by what Slagle later called “disrupters.”
Slagle, along with vice chairman Jeremy Halpin, secretary Barbara Treacy, executive committee chairman Tracy Diaz and interim treasurer Angela King said Sep. 12 they planned to resign at month’s end.
None of them attended Tuesday’s meeting.
Members of the county’s executive committee who back Slagle plan to meet Nov. 7 to fill those empty leadership slots while accepting his chairmanship.
Slagle has repeatedly declined emails and phone calls for comment from The Sun News. But he outlined his position in two lengthy emails to county executive committee members.
“The legal opinion of my attorneys is that l hold an elected political office. Further, l was elected Chairman of the Horry County Republican Party by you the people of Horry County at a legally held Republican Party Convention on April 24, 2021, for a two-year term that expires at the next county convention in April 2023,” Slagle wrote Oct 1.
“Finally, I rescinded my resignation prior to the stated effective date. There are many years of legal precedents to support my position on this matter, to remain as Chairman.”
Slagle and his leadership team have had a rocky 18-month ride plagued by infighting and several scuffles with S.C. GOP chairman Drew McKissick — including a June 2021 censure following comments he made the previous week about Greenville Republicans.
