South Carolina Senate

South Carolina State Senate
South Carolina State Senate
South Carolina General Assembly
Type
Type	Upper House
Term limits	None
History
New session started	January 12, 2021
Leadership
President	Harvey S. Peeler Jr. (R) ; since January 8, 2019
Majority Leader	A. Shane Massey (R) ; since April 6, 2016
Minority Leader	Brad Hutto (D) ; since November 17, 2020
Structure
Seats	46
Political groups	Majority Republican (30); Minority Democratic (16);
Length of term	4 years
Authority	Article III, South Carolina Constitution
Salary	$10,400/year + per diem
Elections
Last election	November 3, 2020; (46 seats)
Next election	November 5, 2024; (46 seats)
Redistricting	Legislative Control
Meeting place
	State Senate Chamber; South Carolina State House; Columbia, South Carolina
Website
	South Carolina State Senate

A diagram of the Senate Chamber, 1917

The South Carolina Senate is the upper house of the South Carolina General Assembly, the lower house being the South Carolina House of Representatives. It consists of 46 senators elected from single member districts for four-year terms at the same time as United States presidential elections.

The South Carolina Constitution of 1895 provided for each county to elect one senator for a four-year term. The election of senators was staggered so that half of the state Senate was elected every two years. After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1964 for the case Reynolds v. Sims, the state Senate was reapportioned in 1966 as a temporary measure into 27 districts with 50 members for two-year terms. In 1967, the state Senate was again reapportioned, this time into 20 districts with 46 members for four-year terms. The number of districts was reduced to 16 in 1972 and in 1984, they were eliminated with the creation of single member districts.

The annual session of the General Assembly convenes at the State Capitol Building in Columbia on the second Tuesday of January of each year. However, after convening, either the House or the Senate may call for itself a 30-day recess by a majority vote, or a longer recess by a two-thirds vote.^[2]

Composition[]

Affiliation	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)		Total

	Republican	Democratic		Vacant
Current Session	30	16	46	0
Latest voting share	65.2%	34.8%	100%

Members of the South Carolina Senate[]

Except as noted, all Senators were elected in November 2020 and terms began on January 12, 2021. All terms expire in January 2025.

District	Representative	Party	Residence
1	Thomas C. Alexander	Republican	Walhalla
2	Rex Rice	Republican	Easley
3	Richard Cash	Republican	Powdersville
4	Michael Gambrell	Republican	Honea Path
5	Thomas D. Corbin	Republican	Travelers Rest
6	Dwight Loftis	Republican	Greenville
7	Karl B. Allen	Democratic	Greenville
8	Ross Turner	Republican	Greenville
9	Danny Verdin	Republican	Laurens
10		Republican	Greenwood
11	Josh Kimbrell	Republican	Inman
12	Scott Talley	Republican	Spartanburg
13	Shane Martin	Republican	Spartanburg
14	Harvey S. Peeler Jr.	Republican	Gaffney
15	Wes Climer	Republican	Rock Hill
16	Michael Johnson	Republican	Lancaster
17	Mike Fanning	Democratic	Great Falls
18	Ronnie Cromer	Republican	Prosperity
19	John L. Scott Jr.	Democratic	Columbia
20	Dick Harpootlian	Democratic	Columbia
21	Darrell Jackson	Democratic	Hopkins
22	Mia McLeod	Democratic	Columbia
23	Katrina Shealy	Republican	Lexington
24	Tom Young Jr.	Republican	Aiken
25	A. Shane Massey	Republican	Edgefield
26	Nikki G. Setzler	Democratic	West Columbia
27	Penry Gustavson	Republican	Camden
28	Greg Hembree	Republican	North Myrtle Beach
29	Gerald Malloy	Democratic	Hartsville
30	Kent M. Williams	Democratic	Marion
31	Hugh Leatherman	Republican	Florence
32	Ronnie A. Sabb	Democratic	Greeleyville
33	Luke A. Rankin	Republican	Myrtle Beach
34	Stephen Goldfinch	Republican	Murrells Inlet
35	Thomas McElveen	Democratic	Sumter
36	Kevin L. Johnson	Democratic	Manning
37	Larry Grooms	Republican	Bonneau
38	Sean Bennett	Republican	Summerville
39	Vernon Stephens	Democratic	Bowman
40	Brad Hutto	Democratic	Orangeburg
41	Sandy Senn	Republican	Charleston
42	Marlon Kimpson	Democratic	Charleston
43	Chip Campsen	Republican	Isle of Palms
44	Brian Adams	Republican	Goose Creek
45	Margie Bright Matthews	Democratic	Charleston
46	Tom Davis	Republican	Beaufort

Composition of the Senate over time[]

Year	Democratic Party	Republican Party	Independent / Other	Majority
1865	0	0	31	31
1868	6^[a]	25	0	19
1870	5	26	1	21
1872	8	25	0	17
1874	0	26	7^[b]	19
1876	15	18	0	3
1878	28	5	0	23
1880	33	2	0	31
1882	33	2	0	31
1884	32	3	0	29
1886	33	2	0	31
1888	35	0	0	35
1890	32	3	0	29
1892	36	0	0	36
1894	29	0	7^[c]	22
1896	36	0	0	36
1898– 1908	41	0	0	41
1910– 1916	44	0	0	44
1918– 1964	46	0	0	46
1966	43	6	1	37
1968	47	3	0	44
1970	44	2	0	42
1972	43	3	0	40
1976	42	4	0	38
1980	39	7	0	32
1984	36	10	0	26
1988	35	11	0	24
1992	30	16	0	14
1996	25	21	0	4
2000	22^[d]	24^[d]	0	2
2004	20	26^[e]	0	6
2008	19	27	0	8
2012	18	28	0	10
2016	18	28	0	10
2020^[3]	16	30	0	14

^ The election of a Democrat from Abbeville was declared void and the seat remained vacant.
^ All 7 were members of the Conservative Party of South Carolina.
^ All 7 were Independent Democrats.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b After the 2000 elections, the Senate was evenly split between 23 Democrats and 23 Republicans. A Democrat, of Greer, switched to the Republicans to break the tie.
^ Republicans gained an additional seat in a 2007 special election.

References[]

^ "Massey Named New SC Senate Majority Leader". wltx.com. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
^ "ARTICLE 3. Legislative Department., SECTION 9. Sessions of General Assembly". 2010 South Carolina Constitution - Unannotated. Archived from the original on March 4, 2012. Retrieved January 16, 2012.
^ "South Carolina Election Results". New York Times. 4 November 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2020.

Dubin, Michael J. (2007) Party affiliations in the state legislatures : a year by year summary, 1796-2006.

External links[]

South Carolina State House Online
- South Carolina Legislative Information Tracking System allows users to track legislative information via custom reports, tracking lists or subscription services. Services are provided via web search or Palm Pilot.
The South Carolina Senate Democratic Caucus
The South Carolina Senate Republican Caucus
Project Vote Smart – State Senate of South Carolina

Coordinates: 33°50′10″N 81°09′49″W / 33.836081°N 81.1637245°W / 33.836081; -81.1637245

[3] The election of a Democrat from Abbeville was declared void and the seat remained vacant.

[4] All 7 were members of the Conservative Party of South Carolina.

[5] All 7 were Independent Democrats.

[after2000-6] Jump up to: ^a ^b After the 2000 elections, the Senate was evenly split between 23 Democrats and 23 Republicans. A Democrat, of Greer, switched to the Republicans to break the tie.

[7] Republicans gained an additional seat in a 2007 special election.

[1] "Massey Named New SC Senate Majority Leader". wltx.com. Retrieved 23 March 2018.

[2] "ARTICLE 3. Legislative Department., SECTION 9. Sessions of General Assembly". 2010 South Carolina Constitution - Unannotated. Archived from the original on March 4, 2012. Retrieved January 16, 2012.

[8] "South Carolina Election Results". New York Times. 4 November 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2020.

[1]

[2]

[a]

[b]

[c]

[d]

[e]

[3]

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

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