Voters in portions of Dillon, Horry, Marion and Marlboro counties will go to the polls Nov. 2 to determine who will represent District 28 in the S.C. Senate.

They’ll choose between Democratic incumbent Dick Elliott and Republican challenger Katherine Jenerette.

Elliott said after 12 years in the Senate, he has a long-standing record of creating opportunities and making a difference in his constituents’ lives. He said there is much more work to be done and he plans to continue what he’s started.

Elliott is a strong supporter of North Eastern Strategic Alliance, a group that works to promote projects such as the Interstate 73 corridor and improvements to S.C. 9. Elliott said these two highway projects are critical to helping the surrounding counties with industry and tourism.

“I’m currently working on upgrading Highway 9 by making it a four-lane road from Green Sea to the Marion County line,” Elliott said. “And I believe I-73 will be built quicker than most people think.”

Elliott, who opened Elliott Beach Rentals in 1959 and still works there today, said he helped make the Grand Strand the tourism haven it is today.

“In 1967, I took out a loan from Anderson Brothers Bank in Mullins to build one of the first of five golf courses at the beach,” he said. “Today, golf is a billion dollar industry in Horry County.”

Elliott said he plans to work with his fellow legislators to ensure that the future of the rest of District 28 is much brighter.

Jenerette, the Republican challenger, lives in North Myrtle Beach. She said her experience as a soldier in the Persian Gulf War and as an aide to Rep. Henry Brown, R-S.C., played a major role in her decision to run for office.

“You really get your priorities straight after you go into a combat zone and lose friends and people you know,” Jenerette said.

“After the war, it became clear to me working as a U.S. Congressional aide to Rep. Brown that the problems in our district are far-reaching and require a special type of approach and leadership to solve them,” she said. “These are not times for ‘politics as usual.’ Like it or not, a new generation of leadership is moving into and needs to move into the statehouse in Columbia.”

Jobs and infrastructure and education should be priorities in District 28 and South Carolina as a whole, Jenerette said. In addition, Jenerette cited the need to save the traditional family.

“Family, faith and traditional values are being threatened by organizations and non-elected judges who want to change our way of life,” she said. “We need to protect these values, including traditional marriage, our unborn children and our expressions of faith. My agenda will address these issues in addition to a Grandparents Tax Relief bill and ‘If You Make It, You Feed It’ legislation for parental responsibility.”

State taxes, senior citizens’ and veterans’ issues and homeland security should also be at the top of the Legislature’s agenda, Jenerette said.

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