South Carolina Senate
Upper house of the South Carolina General Assembly
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The South Carolina State Senate is the upper house of the South Carolina General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of South Carolina. The lower house is the South Carolina House of Representatives. The Senate comprises 46 senators elected from single-member districts for four-year terms, coinciding with United States presidential elections.
South Carolina State Senate | |
|---|---|
| South Carolina General Assembly | |
Seal of the South Carolina Senate | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
Term limits | None |
| History | |
New session started | January 9, 2024 |
| Leadership | |
Majority Leader | |
Minority Leader | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 46 |
 | |
Political groups | Majority
Minority
|
Length of term | 4 years |
| Authority | Article III, South Carolina Constitution |
| Salary | $10,400/year + per diem |
| Elections | |
Last election | November 5, 2024 (46 seats) |
Next election | November 7, 2028 (46 seats) |
| Redistricting | Legislative Control |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| State Senate Chamber South Carolina State House Columbia, South Carolina | |
| Website | |
| South Carolina Senate | |
| Rules | |
| Rules of the Senate of South Carolina | |
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The South Carolina Constitution of 1895 initially stipulated that each county would elect one senator for a four-year term, with elections staggered biennially. Following the 1964 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Reynolds v. Sims, the Senate underwent reapportionment. A temporary measure in 1966 established 27 districts with 50 members serving two-year terms. In 1967, the Senate was again reapportioned into 20 districts with 46 members, serving four-year terms. The number of districts was reduced to 16 in 1972, and by 1984, the state adopted a system of single-member districts.
The General Assembly convenes annually at the State Capitol Building in Columbia on the second Tuesday of January. Either the House or the Senate may, by a majority vote, declare a 30-day recess, or a longer recess with a two-thirds vote.[1]
Composition
| Affiliation | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus) |
Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Democratic | Ind | Vacant | ||
| Start of 2023 Session | 30 | 15 | 1 | 46 | 0 |
| Start of 2025 Session | 34 | 12 | 0 | 46 | 0 |
| Latest voting share | 73.9% | 26.1% | |||
Members of the South Carolina Senate
Except as noted, all senators were elected in November 2024 and terms began on January 14, 2025. All terms expire in January 2029.
- *Senator was first elected in a special election
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[2] | 15[f] | 30 | 1 | 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.
- 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.
- Republicans gained an additional seat in a 2007 special election.
- One independent, Mia McLeod, was formerly a member of the Democratic Party until January 10, 2023.