Presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee swooped into Myrtle Beach on Saturday to woo the area’s top Republicans.

Huckabee, a former governor of Arkansas and a conservative Republican, said he wanted to tell the people gathered at the annual Horry County Republican Ball in Myrtle Beach to “remember that being a Republican is a good thing.”

Huckabee is among the presidential hopefuls making the rounds in South Carolina, which, because of its early 2008 Democratic and Republican primaries, is poised to play a larger role in choosing the next president.

Speaking to reporters before the event, he said the Republicans deserved to lose control of Congress and that the country needs a leader who can efficiently run the government.

myrtlebeachonline