The new District 28

As Horry County's last remaining Democratic legislator, State Senator Dick Elliot has been long-time target for Republicans. The last two races saw strong challengers who kept him well under the sixty percent mark.

While those challengers were able to do well in Horry County, Elliot was able to hang on by running up strong leads in three rural Democratic counties which were also in his district. The new map for his Senate district which was adopted will remove many of those areas from his district, emboldening Republicans to take another look at challenging him.

GOP Solicitor Greg Hembree has already announced his candidacy and other Horry Republicans are trying to talk North Myrtle Beach Rep. Tracy Edge into the race.

Both would be strong contenders for the District 29 seat. Hembree got his start in politics by knocking out a Democratic Solicitor and Edge has held his seat pretty comfortably since he was first elected to it in 1996.
With GOP ambitions rising in the Grand Strand, this seat is likely to become one of the key legislative races next year. Stay tuned ...