Asked how the Lowcountry should manage growth, 59% of likely voters in a poll commissioned by the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce chose investing in infrastructure, while 36.5% chose limiting growth.
The chamber released the results of the poll, called Lowcountry Pulse, on Sept. 2. About five weeks later, its political action committee endorsed three sales tax measures and 29 candidates on the Nov. 3 ballot. Early voting began Oct. 19 and runs through Oct. 31.
How the poll was done
The chamber commissioned the poll, and First Tuesday Strategies, a South Carolina political consulting firm that lists Republican candidates and party organizations among its clients, conducted it. The firm surveyed 800 likely general election voters in Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties. The chamber put the margin of sampling error at plus or minus about 3.46 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
The survey opened the first week of August, and 800 voters completed it within a week, WCSC Live 5 reported. Chamber leaders told the station the sample was balanced to represent each county, as well as age, race, income and education. The chamber’s announcement reported selected results from the 40-question survey, not the full questionnaire. The chamber plans to repeat the poll every year, Live 5 reported.
What voters said
More than three-quarters of voters said infrastructure investment is very important to managing growth, and nearly 80% said the same about drainage and flood resilience, according to the chamber. Support for Lowcountry Rapid Transit, the region’s planned bus rapid transit line, was 71.7%.
On paying for those needs, 70.7% preferred attracting new jobs and businesses to help fund public services and infrastructure. By comparison, 9.7% favored raising taxes. And 86.1% supported clear and predictable timelines for permitting and development review.
Voters were less united on whether growth is helping people who already live here. While 55.3% agreed that it is creating good jobs for current residents, 36.8% disagreed.
Housing ranked as voters’ top affordability concern, the chamber said, and 48.3% of voters ages 18 to 34 named it their biggest one. Seventy-two percent supported policies to expand access to affordable, high-quality child care.
“Lowcountry Pulse allows us to hear directly from voters and understand what they really think, beyond the most visible voices,” chamber President and CEO Kevin Sheilley said in the chamber’s announcement.
The chamber credited four investors with making the poll possible: ATI, Burr Forman, Reveer Group and Trident United Way.
From poll to ballot
The chamber is now using the results to argue for November’s referendums. In an Oct. 6 post, it cited the 59% figure while urging Charleston County voters to approve three related questions: a half-cent transportation sales tax that would fund a $4.25 billion program, a bond question that would let the county borrow against that tax, and a continuation of the Charleston County School District’s 1-cent sales tax.
The school district’s current program runs through 2028, and the continuation would cover 2029 through 2034, the chamber said. The bond, it noted, would not create another sales tax.
The chamber’s political action committee also backs a new 1-cent education sales tax that Dorchester County voters will decide. It would pay for projects in Dorchester School Districts Two and Four.
The chamber’s published summary of Lowcountry Pulse does not report how voters view those specific measures.
The endorsements
The PAC announced its candidate slate Oct. 9: 17 candidates for the South Carolina House and 12 for county council or, in Berkeley County, supervisor. Twenty-two are Republicans and seven are Democrats. The PAC also rated one Democratic House candidate, Clay Middleton, as qualified without endorsing him.
“Each candidate was selected based on their capability to support the business community and advance our region,” the PAC said.
The House list includes Democrat Leon Stavrinakis, who chairs the House Economic Development Subcommittee, and Republican Lee Hewitt, the House’s chief majority whip. In Berkeley County, the PAC endorsed Supervisor Johnny Cribb, who is seeking a third term. In Charleston County, it backed County Council Chairman Joe Boykin.
In Dorchester County, it endorsed council candidates Joe Debney, Rita May Ranck and Jennifer Kunda.
Who is behind it
The chamber says it has 1,600 members representing more than 160,000 professionals and has served the community for more than 250 years. Its headquarters is on O’Hear Avenue in North Charleston’s Park Circle neighborhood, according to its website.
Sheilley told WCSC Live 5 in September that the poll is meant to give local governments data to work from.
“That’s how businesses make decisions, it’s based on data. That’s what we want our governments to do,” he said.
Lowcountry Pulse will continue to track voter opinions on the region’s economy, business community and quality of life, the chamber said.
