South Carolina General Assembly

South Carolina General Assembly

Type
Type	Bicameral
Houses	Senate House of Representatives
Leadership
President of the Senate	Harvey S. Peeler Jr. (R) since January 8, 2019
Speaker of the House	Jay Lucas (R) since December 2, 2014
Structure
Seats	170 voting members: 46 Senators 124 Representatives

Senate political groups	Republican (30) Democratic (16)

House political groups	Republican (81) Democratic (43)^[1]
Elections
Senate last election	November 2020
House last election	November 2020
Meeting place

South Carolina State House, Columbia
Website
http://www.scstatehouse.gov/

Governor Donald Russell addressing the Assembly in 1964

The South Carolina General Assembly, also called the South Carolina Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of South Carolina. The legislature is bicameral and consists of the lower South Carolina House of Representatives and the upper South Carolina Senate. All together, the General Assembly consists of 170 members. The legislature convenes at the State House in Columbia.

Prior to the 1964 federal Reynolds v. Sims decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, each county doubled as a legislative district, with each county electing one senator and at least one representative. Moreover, each county's General Assembly delegation also doubled as its county council, as the state constitution made no provision for local government.

The "one man, one vote" provision of Reynolds v. Sims^[2] caused district lines to cross county lines, causing legislators to be on multiple county councils. This led to the passage of the Home Rule Act of 1975, which created county councils that were independent of the General Assembly. However, the General Assembly still retains considerable authority over local government. As a result, the legislature still devotes considerable time to local matters, and county legislative delegations still handle many matters that are handled by county governments in the rest of the country.^[3]

There are 124 members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, who are elected every two years, and the South Carolina Senate has 46 members, elected every four years concurrent to the presidential election. For both houses, there are no term limits. The General Assembly meets in joint session to elect judges, with all 170 members having an equal vote in such elections.

Officers[]

Senate[]

South Carolina Senate Officers
Position	Name	Party
President of the Senate	Harvey S. Peeler Jr.	Republican
Majority Leader	A. Shane Massey	Republican
Minority Leader	Brad Hutto	Democratic

House of Representatives[]

South Carolina House of Representatives Officers
Position	Name	Party
Speaker	James H. "Jay" Lucas	Republican
Speaker pro tempore	Tommy Pope	Republican
Majority Leader	Gary Simrill	Republican
Minority Leader	J. Todd Rutherford	Democratic

Historic Party Control[]

Statehouse Party Control since 1868
Year^[a]	Senate Majority	House Majority	Governor Control
1868	Republican	Republican	Republican
1870
1872
1874
1876		Democratic	Democratic
1878	Democratic
1880
1882
1884
1886
1888
1890
1892
1894
1896
1898
1900
1902
1904
1906
1908
1910
1912
1914
1916
1918
1920
1922
1924
1926
1930
1934
1938
1942
1946
1950
1954
1958
1962
1966
1970
1974			Republican
1978			Democratic
1982			Democratic
1986			Republican
1990
1994		Republican
1998	Republican		Democratic
2002			Republican
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022			TBD

Notes[]

^ Years reflected in chart match gubernatorial elections

References[]

^ "South Carolina Legislature Online - House of Representatives".
^ "Reynolds v. Sims 377 U.S. 533 (1964)". Justia Law. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
^ "Scoppe: The Home Rule Act that didn't really allow home rule". thestate. Retrieved May 12, 2016.

External links[]

South Carolina Legislature Online

show v t Members of the South Carolina Senate
President of the Senate Harvey S. Peeler Jr. (R) Majority Leader A. Shane Massey (R) Minority Leader Brad Hutto (D)
Thomas C. Alexander (R) Rex Rice (R) Richard Cash (R) Michael Gambrell (R) Tom Corbin (R) Dwight Loftis (R) Karl B. Allen (D) Ross Turner (R) Danny Verdin (R) Billy Garrett (R) Josh Kimbrell (R) Scott Talley (R) Shane Martin (R) Harvey S. Peeler Jr. (R) Wes Climer (R) (R) Mike Fanning (D) Ronnie Cromer (R) John L. Scott Jr. (D) Dick Harpootlian (D) Darrell Jackson (D) Mia McLeod (D) Katrina Shealy (R) Tom Young Jr. (R) A. Shane Massey (R) Nikki G. Setzler (D) (R) Greg Hembree (R) Gerald Malloy (D) Kent M. Williams (D) Hugh Leatherman (R) Ronnie A. Sabb (D) Luke A. Rankin (R) Stephen Goldfinch (R) Thomas McElveen (D) Kevin L. Johnson (D) Larry Grooms (R) Sean Bennett (R) Vernon Stephens (D) Brad Hutto (D) Sandy Senn (R) Marlon Kimpson (D) Chip Campsen (R) Brian Adams (R) Margie Bright Matthews (D) Tom Davis (R)
Republican (30) Democratic (16) South Carolina General Assembly South Carolina House of Representatives South Carolina Senate

show v t Members of the South Carolina House of Representatives
Speaker of the House Jay Lucas (R) Speaker pro tempore Tommy Pope (R) Majority Leader Gary Simrill (R) Minority Leader Todd Rutherford (D)
Bill Whitmire (R) Bill Sandifer III (R) Jerry Carter (R) Davey Hiott (R) Neal Collins (R) W. Brian White (R) Jay West (R) Jonathon D. Hill (R) Anne Thayer (R) West Cox (R) Craig A. Gagnon (R) J. Anne Parks (D) John R. McCravy III (R) Stewart Jones (R) JA Moore (D) Mark N. Willis (R) Mike Burns (R) Tommy Stringer (R) Patrick Haddon (R) Adam Morgan (R) Bobby Cox (R) Jason Elliott (R) Chandra Dillard (D) Bruce W. Bannister (R) Leola C. Robinson-Simpson (D) Raye Felder (R) Garry R. Smith (R) Ashley Trantham (R) Dennis Moss (R) Steve Moss (R) Rosalyn Henderson-Myers (D) Max Hyde Jr. (R) Travis Moore (R) Roger Nutt (R) Bill Chumley (R) Merita Ann Allison (R) Steven Wayne Long (R) Josiah Magnuson (R) Cal Forrest (R) Rick Martin (R) Annie McDaniel (D) Doug Gilliam (R) Randy Ligon (R) Mandy Powers Norrell (D) Brandon Michael Newton (R) Gary Simrill (R) Tommy Pope (R) Bruce M. Bryant (R) John Richard C. King (D) Will Wheeler (D) J. David Weeks (D) Vic Dabney (R) Richie Yow (R) Pat Henegan (D) Jackie E. Hayes (D) Tim McGinnis (R) Lucas Atkinson (D) Jeff Johnson (R) Terry Alexander (D) Phillip Lowe (R) Roger K. Kirby (D) Robert Q. Williams (D) Jay Jordan (R) Kimberly Johnson (D) Jay Lucas (R) Gilda Cobb-Hunter (D) G. Murrell Smith Jr. (R) Heather Ammons Crawford (R) Chris Wooten (R) Wendy Brawley (D) Nathan Ballentine (R) Seth Rose (D) Chris Hart (D) Todd Rutherford (D) Kirkman Finlay III (R) Leon Howard (D) Kambrell Garvin (D) Beth Bernstein (D) Ivory Torrey Thigpen (D) Jermaine Johnson (D) Bart T. Blackwell (R) Bill Clyburn (D) Bill Hixon (R) Melissa Lackey Oremus (R) Chip Huggins (R) Bill Taylor (R) Paula Rawl Calhoon (R) RJ May (R) Micah Caskey (R) Justin Bamberg (D) Lonnie Hosey (D) Joseph Daning (R) Russell Ott (D) Gil Gatch (R) Jerry Govan Jr. (D) Ryan McCabe (R) Mandy Kimmons (R) Chris Murphy (R) Mark Smith (R) Sylleste Davis (R) Cezar McKnight (D) Joseph H. Jefferson (D) Carl Anderson (D) William Bailey (R) Kevin Hardee (R) Russell Fry (R) Case Brittain (R) Lee Hewitt (R) Deon Tedder (D) William S. Cogswell Jr. (R) Wendell Gilliard (D) Joe Bustos (R) Marvin R. Pendarvis (D) Lin Bennett (R) Spencer Wetmore (D) Chardale Murray (D) Krystle Matthews (D) Bill Herbkersman (R) Leon Stavrinakis (D) Weston J. Newton (R) Michael F. Rivers Sr. (D) Shedron D. Williams (D) Jeff Bradley (R) Shannon Erickson (R)
Republican (80) Democratic (44) South Carolina General Assembly South Carolina House of Representatives South Carolina Senate

show v t State of South Carolina
Columbia (capital)
Regions	Atlantic Coastal Plain Blue Ridge Mountains Grand Strand High Hills of Santee Lake Murray Country Lowcountry Metrolina Midlands Ninety-Six District Olde English District Pee Dee Piedmont Sandhills Sea Islands Upstate	Seal of South Carolina
Larger cities	Charleston Columbia Greenville North Charleston Rock Hill Spartanburg
Smaller cities	Aiken Anderson Beaufort Bennettsville Camden Cayce Conway Easley Florence Forest Acres Gaffney Georgetown Greenwood Greer Goose Creek Hilton Head Island Isle of Palms Laurens Lexington Mauldin Myrtle Beach North Augusta North Myrtle Beach Orangeburg Simpsonville Summerville Sumter Union Walterboro West Columbia York
Towns	Abbeville Barnwell Batesburg-Leesville Bluffton Clemson Darlington Dillon Edgefield Fort Mill Fountain Inn Great Falls Hardeeville Irmo Jefferson Kingstree Liberty Marion McCormick Moncks Corner Mount Pleasant Newberry Pageland Pendleton Pickens Seneca Sullivan's Island Travelers Rest Walhalla Westminster Williamston
CDPs	Berea Carolina Forest Dentsville Five Forks Gantt Garden City Ladson Parker Red Hill Saint Andrews Seven Oaks Socastee Taylors Wade Hampton
Counties	Abbeville Aiken Allendale Anderson Bamberg Barnwell Beaufort Berkeley Calhoun Charleston Cherokee Chester Chesterfield Clarendon Colleton Darlington Dillon Dorchester Edgefield Fairfield Florence Georgetown Greenville Greenwood Hampton Horry Jasper Kershaw Lancaster Laurens Lee Lexington Marion Marlboro McCormick Newberry Oconee Orangeburg Pickens Richland Saluda Spartanburg Sumter Union Williamsburg York
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Society	Crime Culture Demographics Economy Education Colleges and universities Literature Politics Sports African Americans
South Carolina portal

show v t Legislatures of the United States
United States Congress	United States House of Representatives United States Senate
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Other legislatures	District of Columbia American Samoa (H, S) Guam Northern Mariana Islands (H, S) Puerto Rico (H, S) U.S. Virgin Islands
Legislative elections	2010 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
List of U.S. state legislators

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