Exit poll surveys taken at Loris elementary, the Horry County North Strand Recreation Center and Head Start in Longs yesterday concerned flood issues in Horry County.
The survey was taken entirely in District 9.
259 voters took the exit poll.
“We did an exit poll Saturday to see what Democratic primary voters thought about flooding. We knew the level of concern was high but not this high. We plan to do a survey of Republican voters in the near future to see if they compare. As you can see from the results, residents in District 9 are impacted by flooding and prepared to restrict land uses to protect the county’s natural infrastructure.” April Thomas- O’Leary, founder of Horry County Rising.
Our readers can visit the Horry County Rising website @ www.HorryCountyRising.com to sign the group’s “Demand a Plan” call to action.
Survey questions asked at Saturday’s Democratic Primary included:
1. In Horry County, do you believe flooding is a key problem?
Of those asked, 40% of voters (103 people) said flooding is at least one of the top problems in the county.
58% of voters (150 people) said it was the top problem.
98% of all asked said it was either the top issue or among the top issues.
Only three (1%) said it was not one of the top issues, while 3 others (1%) were unsure.
2. Do you feel our current locally elected officials have a strong plan for addressing flooding?
10% said they believe officials do have a strong plan to address flooding.
78% believe Horry County Council does not have a plan.
Only 6% believe our elected officials should focus on other issues.
3. Do you support restricting land uses and development to protect wetlands and upland forests?
90% said yes.
9% said no and 1% was unsure.
Paul Prince is the Horry County Councilman for District 9. Prince is choosing not to run for office this June.
We reached out to candidate Terry W. Fowler of District 9 for his thoughts on the survey.
Said Fowler, “As a staunch Republican, it’s a shame we did not have a Republican primary. I would love to see if those numbers would be similar.“
“I support a strong plan to aggressively deal with this issue. If elected, it will be among my highest priority for District 9 residents. We need a strong plan from Horry County Council,” added Fowler.
Terry W. Fowler is running against Loris Realtor Rome Prince in the June 9th Republican primary