Newt Gingrich takes the Waccamaw Neck during primary

The Waccamaw Neck had the highest number of voters to turn out for Saturday’s primary, with most of the votes going for candidate Newt Gingrich.
The precinct with the highest percentage of voters who turned out this past Saturday was Pawleys Island 5 (Waccamaw High School) where 37.13 percent of the precinct’s 2,513 registered voters cast a ballot.
When averaged, 31.2 percent of the registered voters on the Waccamaw Neck voted Saturday.
In all the precincts, except for Pawleys Island 4 and 5, Gingrich came out ahead of candidate Mitt Romney.
A CNN exit poll conducted Saturday indicated the main thing most poll participants were looking for is someone they think can beat President Barack Obama in November.
In Georgetown County, a total of 9,664 people voted Saturday, compared to 6,645 in 2008.
Georgetown County Republican Chairman Jim Jerow called the turnout “outstanding,” especially on the Waccamaw Neck where the participation was the heaviest.
“The voters have spoken. They did their job. They want change,” Jerow said.
In Georgetown County, Newt Gingrich received 4,387 votes followed by Mitt Romney with 3,239.
Statewide, Gingrich received 40 percent of the vote followed by Romney who picked up 28 percent.
Gingrich was the winner in all but three of Georgetown County’s precincts.
In Pawleys Island precincts 4 and 5, Romney received the most votes.
In Georgetown precinct 4 (Georgetown Presbyterian Church) it was a tie with the two candidates receiving 54 votes each.

South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Chad Connelly said Gingrich “won a hard-fought victory in South Carolina. He deserves great praise."
It’s unknown what — if any — role the talk of Romney’s business practices at Bain Capital played in the outcome of the primary.
Romney was head of Bain Capital when it purchased GS Industries, which owned Georgetown Steel, and laid off thousands of workers. The company later went bankrupt.
Other candidates in the race were Rick Santorum and Ron Paul.
Ron Paul received 679 votes and Santorum received 1,146.
Some candidates who have already dropped out of the race, including Michele Bachman and Herman Cain, received 8 and 91 votes, respectively. Jon Huntsman, who also dropped out of the race, received 30 votes, according to the unofficial results.   
None of the remaining candidates decided to withdraw from the race after Saturday’s primary.

They are now heading to Florida for another Presidential Preference Primary.

By Scott Harper
Sharper@gowntimes.com