Horry County party leaders prepare for upcoming presidential primaries

HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WMBF) - As the race to the White House continues, all eyes turn to South Carolina as both Democratic and Republican primaries take place next month.

DECISION 2024 | Early voting in South Carolina Democratic primary underway

Both parties in Horry County are gearing up to drive the vote out, but what both party chairs told WMBF News is that the state’s primaries are critical.

“It’s always been very important in predicting who is the ultimate nominee for the Republican Party,” said Reese Boyd, chair of the Horry County Republican Party.

“It’s a big deal - we’re excited to be chosen,” said Alester Linton-Pryor, Horry County Democratic Party Chair.

Both chairs say they are planning events and hoping to get as many people out to the polls as possible. They’re also confident about potential turnout.

“Some of our primaries, we’ve had actually really, unfortunately, low turnout. So it’s important that we, you know, do what we can to get the vote out,” said Boyd. “But I’m expecting this year to be a high turnout election, you know... a lot of interest in the election, a lot of interest in the primary.”

“We’re trying to get a synchronized message so that everyone will be on the same page. And I think as we get closer to the June primary, voters are going to start getting excited because there’s a lot to be excited about,” said Linton-Pryor.

Both chairs also emphasized the importance of faith leaders in their strategies. Earlier this week, members of the Democrat Party met with church leaders all over the state while Republican leaders are planning a pastors’ roundtable.

“The Republican Party, one of the things I’ve tried to do is strengthen our ties with the local faith community, that’s been important for us,” said Boyd.

“I’m a child of the 60s...faith leaders were so important, and democrats being people of faith, we want to make sure that our faith leaders are involved,” said Linton-Pryor.

But, overall, both chairs wanted to emphasize that there is a lot at stake in this election.

“It’s an important time, the country is in a really bad spot,” said Boyd.

“This is critical. Democracy is at stake,” said Linton-Pryor.

Early voting is already underway for the Democratic primary, while Thursday is the last day to register for the Republican primary.

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