South_Carolina_Senate

South Carolina Senate

South Carolina Senate

House of legislature for the US state of South Carolina

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.

Quick Facts Type, Term limits ...
A diagram of the Senate Chamber, 1917

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.[1]

Composition

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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.

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Composition of the Senate over time

Main article: Political party strength in South Carolina
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  1. John L. Scott Jr. died on August 13, 2023; Devine was elected January 2, 2024 in a special election.[2]
  2. Marlon Kimpson resigned on May 11, 2023; Tedder was elected November 7, 2023 in a special election.[4]
  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.
  6. After the 2000 elections, the Senate was evenly split between 23 Democrats and 23 Republicans. A Democrat, J. Verne Smith of Greer, switched to the Republicans to break the tie.
  7. Republicans gained an additional seat in a 2007 special election.
  8. One independent, Mia McLeod, was formerly a member of the Democratic Party until January 10, 2023.

References

  1. [1]
    "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.
  2. [2]
    "Election Results". WISTV. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  3. [3]
    McLeod, Mia. "New Year, New Direction!". miaforsenate. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  4. [4]
    "Democrat wins special South Carolina Senate election and will be youngest senator". AP. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  5. [5]
    "South Carolina Election Results". The 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.

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