South Carolina Senate

South Carolina State Senate
South Carolina General Assembly

Type
Type	Upper House
Term limits	None
History
New session started	January 8, 2013
Leadership
President of the Senate	Henry McMaster (R) Since January 14, 2015
President Pro Tem of the Senate	Hugh K. Leatherman, Sr. (R) Since June 18, 2014
Majority Leader	Harvey S. Peeler, Jr. (R) Since May 26, 2005
Minority Leader	Nikki G. Setzler (D) Since November 12, 2012
Structure
Seats	46

Political groups	Governing party Republican (28) Opposition party Democratic (17)
Length of term	4 years
Authority	Article III, South Carolina Constitution
Salary	$10,400/year + per diem
Elections
Last election	November 6, 2012 (46 seats)
Next election	November 8, 2016 (46 seats)
Redistricting	Legislative Control
Meeting place

State Senate Chamber South Carolina State House Columbia, South Carolina
Website
South Carolina State Senate

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.^[1]

Composition 1
- Leadership 1.1
- Members of the South Carolina Senate 1.2
Past Make-up of the Senate 2
References 3
External links 4

Composition

Affiliation	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)		Total

	Republican	Democratic		Vacant
End of previous legislature	27	19	46	0

Beginning of 2013-14 Legislature	28	18	46	0
May 31, 2013^[2]		17	45	1
October 7, 2013^[3]		18	46	0
June 18, 2014^[4]		17	45	1
End of previous legislature^[5]		18	46	0

Beginning of 2015-16 Legislature	28	18	46	0
June 17, 2015^[6]		17	45	1
October 21, 2015^[7]		18	46	0
Latest voting share	7001610000000000000♠61%	7001390000000000000♠39%

Leadership

South Carolina Senate Officers
Position	Name	Party
Lieutenant Governor / President of the Senate	Henry McMaster	Republican
President Pro Tempore	Hugh K. Leatherman, Sr.	Republican
Majority Leader	Harvey S. Peeler, Jr.	Republican
Minority Leader	Nikki G. Setzler	Democratic

Members of the South Carolina Senate

Except as noted, all Senators were elected in November 2012. All terms expire in November 2016.

District	Representative	Party	Residence
1	Thomas C. Alexander	Republican	Walhalla
2	Larry A. Martin	Republican	Pickens
3	Kevin L. Bryant	Republican	Anderson
4	William H. O'Dell	Republican	Ware Shoals
5	Thomas D. Corbin	Republican	Travelers Rest
6	Michael L. Fair	Republican	Greenville
7	Karl B. Allen	Democratic	Greenville
8	Ross Turner	Republican	Greenville
9	Daniel B. Verdin III	Republican	Laurens
10	Floyd Nicholson	Democratic	Greenwood
11	Glenn G. Reese	Democratic	Inman
12	Lee Bright	Republican	Spartanburg
13	Shane Martin	Republican	Spartanburg
14	Harvey S. Peeler, Jr.	Republican	Gaffney
15	Robert W. Hayes, Jr.	Republican	Rock Hill
16	Greg Gregory	Republican	Lancaster
17	Creighton B. Coleman	Democratic	Winnsboro
18	Ronnie W. Cromer	Republican	Prosperity
19	John L. Scott, Jr.	Democratic	Columbia
20	John E. Courson	Republican	Columbia
21	Darrell Jackson	Democratic	Hopkins
22	Joel Lourie	Democratic	Columbia
23	Katrina Frye Shealy	Republican	Lexington
24	Tom Young, Jr.	Republican	Aiken
25	A. Shane Massey	Republican	Edgefield
26	Nikki G. Setzler	Democratic	West Columbia
27	Vincent A. Sheheen	Democratic	Camden
28	Greg Hembree	Republican	North Myrtle Beach
29	Gerald Malloy	Democratic	Hartsville
30	Kent M. Williams	Democratic	Marion
31	Hugh K. Leatherman, Sr.	Republican	Florence
32	Ronnie A. Sabb	Democratic	Greeleyville
33	Luke A. Rankin	Republican	Myrtle Beach
34	Raymond E. Cleary III	Republican	Murrells Inlet
35	Thomas McElveen	Democratic	Sumter
36	Kevin L. Johnson	Democratic	Manning
37	Lawrence K. Grooms	Republican	Bonneau
38	Sean Bennett	Republican	Summerville
39	John W. Matthews, Jr.	Democratic	Bowman
40	C. Bradley Hutto	Democratic	Orangeburg
41	Paul Thurmond	Republican	Charleston
42	Marlon Kimpson	Democratic	Charleston
43	George E. Campsen III	Republican	Isle of Palms
44	Paul G. Campbell, Jr.	Republican	Goose Creek
45	Margie Bright Matthews	Democratic	Walterboro
46	Tom Davis	Republican	Beaufort

Past Make-up of the Senate

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

^(a) The election of a Democrat from Abbeville was declared void and the seat remained vacant.
^(b) All 7 were members of the Conservative Party of South Carolina.
^(b) All 7 were Independent Democrats.
^(d) 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.
^(e) Republicans gained an additional seat in a 2007 special election.

References

^ "ARTICLE 3. Legislative Department., SECTION 9. Sessions of General Assembly.". 2010 South Carolina Constitution - Unannotated. Retrieved January 16, 2012.
^ Democrat Robert Ford (District 42) resigned. [6]
^ Democrat Marlon Kimpson replaces Robert Ford after a special election. [7]
^ Democrat J. Yancey McGill ascends from President Pro Tem to become Lieutenant Governor. [8]
^ Democrat Rep. Ronnie Sabb took McGill's seat.
^ Democrat Clementa C. Pinckney (District 45) murdered. [9]
^ Democrat Margie Bright Matthews elected. [10]

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

Members of the South Carolina State Senate

President of the Senate: Henry McMaster (R) President pro Tempore: Hugh K. Leatherman, Sr. (R) Majority Leader: Harvey S. Peeler, Jr. (R) Minority Leader: Nikki G. Setzler (D)

Thomas C. Alexander (R) Larry A. Martin (R) Kevin L. Bryant (R) William H. O'Dell (R) Thomas D. Corbin (R) Michael L. Fair (R) Karl B. Allen (D) Ross Turner (R) Daniel B. Verdin III (R) Floyd Nicholson (D) Glenn G. Reese (D) Lee Bright (R) Shane Martin (R) Harvey S. Peeler, Jr. (R) Robert W. Hayes, Jr. (R) Greg Gregory (R) Creighton B. Coleman (D) Ronnie W. Cromer (R) John L. Scott, Jr. (D) John E. Courson (R) Darrell Jackson (D) Joel Lourie (D) Katrina Frye Shealy (R) Tom Young, Jr. (R) A. Shane Massey (R) Nikki G. Setzler (D) Vincent A. Sheheen (D) Greg Hembree (R) Gerald Malloy (D) Kent M. Williams (D) Hugh K. Leatherman, Sr. (R) J. Yancey McGill (D) Luke A. Rankin (R) Raymond E. Cleary III (R) Thomas McElveen (D) Kevin L. Johnson (D) Lawrence K. Grooms (R) Sean Bennett (R) John W. Matthews, Jr. (D) Brad Hutto (D) Paul Thurmond (R) Marlon Kimpson (D) George E. Campsen III (R) Paul G. Campbell, Jr. (R) Margie Bright Matthews (D) Tom Davis (R)

Republican (28) Democratic (18) South Carolina General Assembly South Carolina House of Representatives South Carolina State Senate

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South Carolina Senate