Gardner holds onto Horry County Chairman seat in run-off against former opponent Lazarus

Horry County Council Chairman Johnny Gardner once again bested former chairman Mark Lazarus in a run-off election, the second time Horry County has seen that exact election result in four years.

The two men faced each other last in June 2018 when Gardner, then a political newcomer, won a narrow victory over Lazarus, who was then defending his position as chairman of Horry County Council.

Unofficial election results showed that with 100% of Horry County precincts reporting, Gardner had won 50.6% of the vote. Lazarus won 49.4% of the vote. Results will be certified by county and state election officials in the coming days.

Those results showed Gardner winning 271 more votes than Lazarus, enough to avoid an automatic recount. In 2018, Gardner beat Lazarus by 111 votes, a margin small enough to trigger a recount.

Gathered with supporters at Coppers Restaurant in downtown Conway, Gardner was jubilant and celebrated his victory. Outgoing school board chairman Ken Richardson and Horry County Rising leader April O’Leary were among the supporters gathered, as were county council members Danny Hardee and Mark Causey.

“I feel fantastic, I feel great,” Gardner said after the restaurant erupted in cheers.

“I want to thank y’all,” he said later during a short victory speech. “I didn’t do this, y’all did this.”

Gardner’s victory over Lazarus also represents a rebuke of local developers, who had pooled their money and support behind Lazarus. Lazarus ultimately pulled in nearly $200,000 to Gardner’s $146,000, a significant portion of which came from realtors, builders, engineers and others in the development industry. Gardner, by contrast, raised most of his money via a personal loan to his campaign and largely forewent fundraising.

Gardner, during his term, has advocated for “smart growth” that curtails new building in rural areas and allows new building in already-dense areas.

On Tuesday, he said growth in Horry County was “uncontrolled” and that he worked to slow it down and direct it out of wetlands, rural areas without sufficient infrastructure and areas that are prone to flooding. Gardner also cast his victory as one between supporters of Interstate 73 — a major highway project that boosters say will bring new jobs and more tourists to Horry County — and locals who care more about local infrastructure.

Gardner said he supports I-73 but that the state and federal governments must pitch in funding first, before the county. Lazarus, by contrast, launched his campaign alongside several high-profile developers and criticized some of Gardner’s moves to curb developer influence in the county. He also dedicated county money to I-73 when he was in office.

“This was basically an I-73 vs. local roads kind of race and whatever is best for the county is what I’m going to do,” Gardner said.

Gardner ran on a “promises kept” platform — touting raises for county employees, regulations for development and investment in local roads — and said Tuesday he delivered for residents.

“We did what we told everybody we were going to do, and we’re going to continue what they want us to do,” he said. “Its not about beating (Lazarus), or him for that matter. Four years ago, this is true, the cops asked me to run, the people in the courthouse asked me to run. I did the things I said I was going to do.”

Gardner’s path to victory

Gardner’s win on Tuesday, his second victory in as many races, establishes him a fixture of Horry County politics for at least four more years.

And that’s a departure from how he entered the political area.

After beating Lazarus in 2018 but before taking office, Gardner attended a meeting with political adviser Luke Barefoot and officials from the Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corporation that drew an investigation from the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division, SLED.

Following that meeting, which one of the MBREDC officials recorded on a cell phone, several county officials — including former County Administrator Chris Eldridge — alleged Gardner and Barefoot had attempted to exhort the officials by asking the agency to contract with a political associate to provide “political cover” so the agency’s public county funding would not be affected

SLED ultimately cleared Gardner of any wrongdoing, but Eldridge’s referral of the matter to SLED led to a months-long battle on council over whether or not to remove him from his position. Gardner wanted him gone. The council split on firing him, and Eldridge resigned after negotiating a settlement with Gardner.

That was all in Gardner’s first four months on the job.

Gardner’s term turned productive after that, though it was still marked by occasional turmoil, including one incident where council member Dennis DiSabato abruptly ended a council meeting before the council could discuss how much the county paid to outside attorneys. Some council members, The Sun News reported at the time, feared the discussion would veer into an attempt to fire County Administrator Steve Gosnell, who had taken over for Eldridge.

And most recently, the council’s decision to approve — and then quietly revoke — a resolution declaring June as Pride Month angered both conservatives and LGBTQ residents, the later of which staged a 150-person demonstration outside the county administration building last week.

But Gardner, despite the controversies, claimed several major victories during his term including ending a county contract with the South Carolina Department of Transportation meant to construct Interstate 73; settling a related lawsuit over hospitality fee funds with Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach and other municipalities; passing stricter building codes for new construction in flood zones; and implementing impact fees, a new charge on developers.

Those last two victories upset developers, who pushed back at county council meetings.

All of those victories amounted to what Gardner has called “smart growth,” building in already-dense places and limiting building in rural areas.

“Growth is inevitable! Let’s make sure we grow smart,” Gardner wrote in one campaign message this week.

Gardner has also touted his support for law enforcement and other emergency responders working for the county, and boasted an endorsement from the local chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police. Several community organizers who support better flood protections from the county, including O’Leary of Horry County Rising, also endorsed him.

While some voters on Tuesday said they favored Lazarus, Gardner pulled out a victory.

He said the county still has a lot to work on, and he’s ready to get back to work.

“We still have flooding, we still have growth and public safety is always going to be a thing,” he said, referencing the county budget. “I want to continue to work on flooding, I want to continue working on smart growth. We’re going to do big things.”