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 (27) Democratic (18) Vacant (1)

House political groups	Republican (78) Democratic (45) Vacant (1)^[1]
Elections
Last Senate election	November 2016
Last House election	November 2018
Meeting place

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

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. Altogether, 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, the House of Representatives was apportioned so that each county had a number of representatives based on population, with each county guaranteed at least one representative, while each county had one Senator. Moreover, each county's General Assembly delegation also doubled as its county council, as the state constitution made no provision for local government.

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

House of Representatives

South Carolina House of Representatives officers
Position	Name	Party
Speaker pro tempore	Tommy Pope	Republican
Majority Leader	Gary Simrill	Republican

Historic Party Control

Below is a chart of party control in the South Carolina General Assembly since 1868.

References

^ https://www.scstatehouse.gov/house.php
^ "Reynolds v. Sims 377 U.S. 533 (1964)". Justia Law. Retrieved 2016-05-12.
^ "Scoppe: The Home Rule Act that didn't really allow home rule". thestate. Retrieved 2016-05-12.

External links

South Carolina Legislature Online

v t e Members of the South Carolina Senate
President of the Senate Thomas C. Alexander (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) ▌Michael Johnson (R) ▌Mike Fanning (D) ▌Ronnie Cromer (R) ▌Tameika Isaac Devine (D) ▌Dick Harpootlian (D) ▌Darrell Jackson (D) ▌Mia McLeod (I) ▌Katrina Shealy (R) ▌Tom Young Jr. (R) ▌A. Shane Massey (R) ▌Nikki G. Setzler (D) ▌Penry Gustafson (R) ▌Greg Hembree (R) ▌Gerald Malloy (D) ▌Kent M. Williams (D) ▌Mike Reichenbach (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) ▌Deon Tedder (D) ▌Chip Campsen (R) ▌Brian Adams (R) ▌Margie Bright Matthews (D) ▌Tom Davis (R)
▌Republican (30) ▌Democratic (15) ▌ Independent (1) South Carolina General Assembly House Senate List of past legislatures

v t e 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) ▌Adam L. Duncan (R) ▌Phillip Bowers (R) ▌Davey Hiott (R) ▌Neal Collins (R) ▌April Cromer (R) ▌Lee Gilreath (R) ▌Don Chapman (R) ▌Blake Sanders (R) ▌Thomas Beach (R) ▌Craig A. Gagnon (R) ▌Daniel Gibson (R) ▌John R. McCravy III (R) ▌Luke Rankin (R) ▌JA Moore (D) ▌Mark N. Willis (R) ▌Mike Burns (R) ▌Alan Morgan (R) ▌Patrick Haddon (R) ▌Stephen Frank (R) ▌Bobby Cox (R) ▌Paul Wickensimer (R) ▌Chandra Dillard (D) ▌Bruce W. Bannister (R) ▌Wendell K. Jones (D) ▌David Martin (R) ▌David Vaughan (R) ▌Chris Huff (R) ▌Dennis Moss (R) ▌Brian Lawson (R) ▌Rosalyn Henderson-Myers (D) ▌Scott Montgomery (R) ▌Travis Moore (R) ▌Sarita Edgerton (R) ▌Bill Chumley (R) ▌Rob Harris (R) ▌Steven Wayne Long (R) ▌Josiah Magnuson (R) ▌Cal Forrest (R) ▌Joseph S. White (R) ▌Annie McDaniel (D) ▌Doug Gilliam (R) ▌Randy Ligon (R) ▌Mike Neese (R) ▌Brandon Michael Newton (R) ▌Heath Sessions (R) ▌Tommy Pope (R) ▌Brandon Guffey (R) ▌John Richard C. King (D) ▌Will Wheeler (D) ▌J. David Weeks (D) ▌Jermaine L. Johnson (D) ▌Richie Yow (R) ▌Jason S. Luck (D) ▌Jackie E. Hayes (D) ▌Tim McGinnis (R) ▌Lucas Atkinson (D) ▌Jeff Johnson (R) ▌Terry Alexander (D) ▌Phillip Lowe (R) ▌Carla Schuessler (R) ▌Robert Q. Williams (D) ▌Jay Jordan (R) ▌Fawn Pedalino (R) ▌Cody Mitchell (R) ▌Jackie Terribile (R) ▌G. Murrell Smith Jr. (R) ▌Heather Ammons Crawford (R) ▌Chris Wooten (R) ▌Robert Reese (D) ▌Nathan Ballentine (R) ▌Seth Rose (D) ▌Chris R. Hart (D) ▌Todd Rutherford (D) ▌Heather Bauer (D) ▌Leon Howard (D) ▌Kambrell Garvin (D) ▌Beth Bernstein (D) ▌Hamilton R. Grant (D) ▌Katherine D. Landing (R) ▌Charles V. Hartz (R) ▌Bill Clyburn (D) ▌Bill Hixon (R) ▌Melissa Lackey Oremus (R) ▌Jay Kilmartin (R) ▌Bill Taylor (R) ▌Paula Rawl Calhoon (R) ▌RJ May (R) ▌Micah Caskey (R) ▌Justin Bamberg (D) ▌Lonnie Hosey (D) ▌Brandon Cox (R) ▌Jerry Govan Jr. (D) ▌Gil Gatch (R) ▌Gilda Cobb-Hunter (D) ▌Ryan McCabe (R) ▌Robby Robbins (R) ▌Chris Murphy (R) ▌Mark Smith (R) ▌Sylleste Davis (R) ▌Roger K. Kirby (D) ▌Harriet Holman (R) ▌Carl Anderson (D) ▌William Bailey (R) ▌Kevin Hardee (R) ▌Val Guest (R) ▌Case Brittain (R) ▌Lee Hewitt (R) ▌Tiffany Spann-Wilder (D) ▌Tom Hartnett (R) ▌Wendell Gilliard (D) ▌Joe Bustos (R) ▌Vacant ▌Gary Brewer (R) ▌Spencer Wetmore (D) ▌James Teeple (R) ▌Jordan Pace (R) ▌Bill Herbkersman (R) ▌Leon Stavrinakis (D) ▌Weston J. Newton (R) ▌Michael F. Rivers Sr. (D) ▌Bill Hager (R) ▌Jeff Bradley (R) ▌Shannon Erickson (R)
▌Republican (88) ▌Democratic (35) ▌Vacant (2) South Carolina General Assembly House Senate List of past legislatures

v t e 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
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 Goose Creek Greenwood Greer 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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South Carolina portal

v t e Legislatures of the United States
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