Horry County GOP leaders step down in mass resignation after internal rift

The Horry County GOP’s five highest ranking members said they will step down Sept. 30 — a mass resignation one member says is partially due to a rift with state GOP leaders.

Chairman Roger Slagle, vice president Jeremy Halpin, state executive committee chairwoman Tracy Diaz, secretary Barbara Treacy and interim treasurer Angela King are vacating their seats after a tumultuous two-year stint that included political infighting.

“In Horry County, we’ve been fighting for two years. I’ve been fighting for two years,” Diaz said Monday at a meeting held at Myrtle Beach’s Robert H. Reed Recreation Center.

“And do you know who I’ve never fought once in the full two years I’ve been doing this? A Democrat. I’ve only been arguing and fighting with Republicans and I think that’s really, really telling.”

Diaz said her last day would be Sept. 30 — an announcement met largely with applause.

Diaz said a condemnation adopted last weekend by the S.C. GOP mentioning her and Slagle by name made it impossible for them to continue.

State GOP officials could not immediately be reached for comment Monday night. Diaz told The Sun News she had yet to see a copy of the rebuke but requested it from state party leaders.

Horry County GOP member Cathy Farish said she hopes a new slate of leaders can bring unity back to a critical region for South Carolina Republicans.

“We had a very dysfunctional party for the last 18 months or so, and at a pivotal time in our country, we need unification and we need people that are true leaders,” she said. “And I believe now, hopefully, we can get there.”

Slagle and others in leadership positions within the county’s GOP have been fending off resignation calls for more than a year.

“I thought we brought back some integrity to this party and this county,” Slagle said in a video recording of the meeting reviewed Monday night by The Sun News.

“For all members who have joined us in this populist movement, we thank you. We encourage you to keep fighting. Unfortunately, the opposition from the state party and the opposition from within our party has made this situation untenable.”

Reached Monday night, Halpin said he was spending the evening with his family but would comment Tuesday.

A date has not been announced for when replacements will be elected.

Calls for resignation

Slagle and other Horry County GOP leaders have been dogged by calls to resign for nearly a year.

Last September, a group of party officials, known as members of the Horry GOP’s executive committee, used a parliamentary procedure to take an official vote to call on Slagle, Halpin and Diaz to resign.

Opponents based their claims on a lawsuit filed against the party in August 2021. In that suit, Matthew McDaniel of Clemson alleged that Chad Caton, a party activist and member of the executive committee, and others assaulted him at a Greenville GOP convention in early June.

McDaniel also alleges that following the incident at the convention, Slagle, Halpin and Diaz, on behalf of the Horry County GOP, penned and posted a statement that defamed him.

An attorney for McDaniel said he’d be willing to drop the suit if Slagle and his associates stepped down.

They’ve also fallen out of grace with S.C. GOP chairman Drew McKissick, one of the state’s most influential figures within the party. In July 2021, Horry County GOP censured him over comments he made earlier that summer as he fended off a challenge by Lin Wood, a former attorney for President Trump.

More recently, Horry County’s GOP censured U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham for his role in crafting sweeping gun reform legislation following mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, Texas.

They also dismissed a complaint by Mark Lazarus that 1,377 absentee Republican voters who inadvertently got Democratic ballots could have shifted the outcome of his primary runoff loss to County Council chairman Johnny Gardner.

Although the Horry County GOP’s executive committee voted not to hear Lazarus’ case, officials weeks later presented a resolution to county council members asking them to seek a state probe into what happened — a move approved Sept. 6.

Diaz said she will retain her seat as a member of the Horry County GOP’s executive committee representing her district, and made it clear Monday night she plans to remain active.

“We’re not going anywhere,” she said. “I’m never shutting up.”