Florence Republican Mike Reichenbach defeated House Representative Jay Jordan tonight in the State District 31 Senate Republican primary race according to final, unofficial results.
The seat was formerly occupied by powerful Senator Hugh Leatherman, who consistently held ties to the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce. Leatherman recently passed.
Reichenbach is a respected local car dealer in the Pee Dee area.
Jordan conceded the race early evening on January 25th after results showed him trailing Reichenbach by as many as 4 percentage points.
Jordan hired the powerful Walter Whetsell political consulting machine to represent him in this campaign.
Whetsell is well known for his work with Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce (MBACC) preferred candidates. Jordan’s loss strikes a huge blow to future MBACC political agenda goals in Horry County.
The Whetsell team famously represents Myrtle Beach Mayor Brenda Bethune, U.S. 7th Congressman Tom Rice, former Horry County Council Chairman Mark Lazarus. Each of these officials enjoy a strong relationship with U.S. 7th Congressional Candidate Russell Fry who made inroads to help Jay Jordan in his Senate 31 bid.
Reichenbach will now face Florence Democrat Suzanne La Rochelle in a special March 29th election.
This news comes one day after the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce insiders learned that funding for I-73 in 2022 will be unlikely.
An event was held in Columbia, S.C. tonight where S.C. House Committee Chairmen were wined and dined by MBACC political insiders in an attempt at resurrecting life into I-73 funding.