South Carolina Senate
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.
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.
Composition
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.Composition of the Senate over time
| Year | Democratic Party | Republican Party | Independent / Other | Majority |
| 1865 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 31 |
| 1868 | 6 | 25 | 0 | 19 |
| 1870 | 5 | 26 | 1 | 21 |
| 1872 | 8 | 25 | 0 | 17 |
| 1874 | 0 | 26 | 7 | 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 | 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 | 24 | 0 | 2 |
| 2004 | 20 | 26 | 0 | 6 |
| 2008 | 19 | 27 | 0 | 8 |
| 2012 | 18 | 28 | 0 | 10 |
| 2016 | 18 | 28 | 0 | 10 |
| 2020 | 15 | 30 | 1 | 14 |