Historically, Charleston leads the state in liberal politics.
Traditionally, the 10 year trend has been:
- Charleston (most liberal)
- Columbia, S.C. (very liberal)
- Myrtle Beach (emerging liberal city)
However, residents of Columbia, S.C. rejected the liberal politics of Democrat Mayor Stephen K. Benjamin during these November elections. The results were published last night, with Republican Daniel Rickenmann winning.
As USA today followed up in its reporting of a red wave hitting American politics: Black, Latino and Asian American Pacific Islanders do not lean hard left. They are voters who must be convinced to choose a Democrat over a Republican.
That reality held true in Columbia. According to unofficial numbers from the Richland County elections office released just after 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, November 16th Rickenmann had tallied 10,550 votes (52%), while opponent Tameika Isaac Devine had 9,751 (48%).
According to the most recent ACS, the racial composition of Columbia is: White: 53.38% Black or African American: 39.79%.
Rickenmann would have needed to win practically all of the white vote had black voters not decided to make this change. His opponent was a well known black female leader in the city.
HOW DID MYRTLE BEACH AVOID THE NEW RED WAVE?
Left wing Democrat Brenda Bethune brings a San Francisco, big government approach to all things City of Myrtle Beach.
Even after her very public statements that she believed children should be allowed to pick the gender of their choosing, Myrtle Beach city residents re-elected her by a 56% margin.
Myrtle Beach is on its way to becoming the 2nd most liberal city in S.C., just behind Charleston.