South Carolina 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.
Make-up of South Carolina Senate
Leadership
Lieutenant Governor André Bauer (R) is the President of the Senate, Glenn F. McConnell (R-Charleston) is the President Pro Tempore, and John W. Drummond (D-Greenwood County) is the President Pro Tempore Emeritus.
Members of the South Carolina Senate
Except as noted, all Senators were elected in November 2004. All terms expire in November 2008.
(1) Elected in 2006 special election.
(2) Elected in 2007 special election.District Senator 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 Greenwood 5 Lewis R. Vaughn (1) Republican Greer 6 Michael L. Fair Republican Greenville 7 Ralph Anderson Democrat Greenville 8 David L. Thomas Republican Greenville 9 Daniel B. Verdin III Republican Laurens 10 John W. Drummond Democrat Ninety Six 11 Glenn G. Reese Democrat Inman 12 John D. Hawkins Republican Spartanburg 13 James H. Ritchie, Jr. Republican Spartanburg 14 Harvey S. Peeler, Jr. Republican Gaffney 15 Robert W. Hayes, Jr. Republican Rock Hill 16 Chauncey K. Gregory Republican Lancaster 17 Linda H. Short Democrat Chester 18 Ronnie W. Cromer Republican Prosperity 19 Kay Patterson Democrat Columbia 20 John E. Courson Republican Richland County 21 Darrell Jackson Democrat Hopkins 22 Joel Lourie Democrat Columbia 23 John M. Knotts, Jr. Republican West Columbia 24 W. Greg Ryberg Republican Aiken 25 A. Shane Massey (2) Republican Edgefield 26 Nikki G. Setzler Democrat West Columbia 27 Vincent A. Sheheen Democrat Camden 28 Dick Elliott Democrat North Myrtle Beach 29 Gerald Malloy Democrat Hartsville 30 Kent M. Williams Democrat Marion 31 Hugh K. Leatherman, Sr. Republican Florence 32 J. Yancey McGill Democrat Kingstree 33 Luke A. Rankin Republican Myrtle Beach 34 Raymond E. Cleary III Republican Murrells Inlet 35 Phil P. Leventis Democrat Sumter 36 John C. Land III Democrat Manning 37 Lawrence K. Grooms Republican Bonneau 38 Randy Scott Republican Summerville 39 John W. Matthews, Jr. Democrat Bowman 40 C. Bradley Hutto Democrat Orangeburg 41 Glenn F. McConnell Republican Charleston 42 Robert Ford Democrat Charleston 43 George E. Campsen III Republican Isle of Palms 44 Paul G. Campbell, Jr. (2) Republican Goose Creek 45 Clementa C. Pinckney Democrat Ridgeland 46 Catherine C. Ceips (2) Republican Beaufort Past Make-up of the Senate
(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. (c) 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. (d) Republicans gained an additional seat in a 2007 special election. The current party makeup is 27 Republicans and 19 Democrats.
External links
* [http://www.scstatehouse.net/html-pages/senate2.html South Carolina State House Online]
** [http://www.scstatehouse.net/html-pages/resources.html 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.
* [http://scsenatedems.org/ The South Carolina Senate Democratic Caucus]
* [http://scsenategop.com/ The South Carolina Senate Republican Caucus]
* [http://www.vote-smart.org/official_state_legislator.php?type=office&state_id=SC&criteria=upper Project Vote Smart - State Senate of South Carolina]
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