South Carolina Republican Party
Encyclopedia
The South Carolina Republican Party and the South Carolina Democratic Party
are the two major political parties within the U.S. state of South Carolina
. The South Carolina Republican Party is the most powerful political party within the state and is also an affiliate of the national Republican Party
.
.
as the Union Republican Party of South Carolina. Robert Smalls
was among its founders. The party dominated the politics of South Carolina
for the duration of Reconstruction from 1868 to 1877. Following the victory of Wade Hampton
in the gubernatorial election of 1876
, the party drifted into irrelevancy and was nothing more than a patronage institution.
A milestone for the party was September 16, 1964, when Senator Strom Thurmond
announced to a statewide television audience that he had switched parties from the Democrats to the Republicans, saying the Democratic "party of our fathers is dead" and had "forsaken the people to become the party of minority groups, power-hungry union leaders, political bosses, and businessmen looking for government contracts and favors". Ten years later, James B. Edwards
was elected as the first Republican governor of South Carolina since Reconstruction.
The South Carolina Republicans co-sponsored with Fox News Channel
its party's first presidential debate
for the 2012 presidential election
. Party chair Karen Floyd
noted "the Upstate of South Carolina has always played such a significant role in deciding the Republican nomination." Participants included Herman Cain
, Gary Johnson
, Ron Paul
, Tim Pawlenty
, and Rick Santorum
; notably absent are Mitt Romney
, Sarah Palin
, Newt Gingrich
, Mitch Daniels
, and Mike Huckabee
. Due to press restrictions by the debate's sponsors, the Associated Press
and Reuters
announced they would not be covering the event.
In 2010, a Republican became the representative of South Carolina's 5th congressional district
, the first Republican to represent that district since Robert Smalls
, the party's co-founder, held the seat in 1883.
State Legislature
(December 5, 1902 – June 26, 2003) was a United States Senator from South Carolina from 1954 to 2003. He holds the records for longest senate career, oldest voting member of the Senate in history,retiring just shy of his 100th birthday, and the record for longest filibuster in senate history at 24 hours and 18 minutes.
Previous state chairmen include: Katon Dawson
of Columbia, Henry McMaster
of Columbia, Barry D. Wynn of Spartanburg, Vann Hipp of Charleston, and Greg Shorey of Spartanburg.
South Carolina Democratic Party
The South Carolina Democratic Party is the South Carolina affiliate of the United States Democratic Party. The Democratic party thrived during the Second Party System between 1832 and the mid-1850s and was one of the causes of the collapse of the Whig Party....
are the two major political parties within the U.S. state of South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
. The South Carolina Republican Party is the most powerful political party within the state and is also an affiliate of the national Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
.
The political system in South Carolina
The primary goal of the South Carolina Republican Party, like all political party organizations, is to win elections. These elections designate officials for the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the local, state, and federal levels of government. The state legislature comprises a Senate containing 46 elected officials and a House of Representatives with 124 members. On the federal level, citizens of South Carolina also elect two senators and 6 representatives to the United States Congress. The executive branch of South Carolina is headed by a Governor elected to a four-year term. The state also has eight electoral college votes for every Presidential election.Leadership
The party is led by an elected group of state party officers, the South Carolina Republican Party State Executive Committee and paid staff. The Chairman of the party is Chad Connelly. The state party organization is headquartered in Columbia, South CarolinaColumbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...
.
History
The party was formally organized on March 7, 1867 in CharlestonCharleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
as the Union Republican Party of South Carolina. Robert Smalls
Robert Smalls
Robert Smalls was an enslaved African American who, during and after the American Civil War, became a ship's pilot, sea captain, and politician. He freed himself and his family from slavery on May 13, 1862, by commandeering a Confederate transport ship, the Planter, to freedom in Charleston harbor...
was among its founders. The party dominated the politics of South Carolina
Politics of South Carolina
Prior to the 1960s, the state Democratic Party was firmly in control of the government of South Carolina at all levels. The state Republican Party was little more than a country club group organized to reap the benefits when a Republican was in the White House...
for the duration of Reconstruction from 1868 to 1877. Following the victory of Wade Hampton
Wade Hampton III
Wade Hampton III was a Confederate cavalry leader during the American Civil War and afterward a politician from South Carolina, serving as its 77th Governor and as a U.S...
in the gubernatorial election of 1876
South Carolina gubernatorial election, 1876
The 1876 South Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1876 to select the governor of the state of South Carolina. The election campaign was a referendum on the Radical Republican-led state government and their Reconstruction policies...
, the party drifted into irrelevancy and was nothing more than a patronage institution.
A milestone for the party was September 16, 1964, when Senator Strom Thurmond
Strom Thurmond
James Strom Thurmond was an American politician who served as a United States Senator. He also ran for the Presidency of the United States in 1948 as the segregationist States Rights Democratic Party candidate, receiving 2.4% of the popular vote and 39 electoral votes...
announced to a statewide television audience that he had switched parties from the Democrats to the Republicans, saying the Democratic "party of our fathers is dead" and had "forsaken the people to become the party of minority groups, power-hungry union leaders, political bosses, and businessmen looking for government contracts and favors". Ten years later, James B. Edwards
James B. Edwards
James Burrows Edwards is a politician and administrator from South Carolina. He was the first Republican to be elected the Governor of South Carolina since Reconstruction.-Early life and career:...
was elected as the first Republican governor of South Carolina since Reconstruction.
The South Carolina Republicans co-sponsored with Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
its party's first presidential debate
Republican Party (United States) presidential debates, 2012
The 2012 United States Republican Party presidential debates are a series of political debates being held, prior to the 2012 Republican primaries, among candidates for the Republican presidential nomination in the national election of 2012...
for the 2012 presidential election
United States presidential election, 2012
The United States presidential election of 2012 is the next United States presidential election, to be held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. It will be the 57th quadrennial presidential election in which presidential electors, who will actually elect the President and the Vice President of the United...
. Party chair Karen Floyd
Karen Floyd
Karen Floyd is an American politician from the state of South Carolina. She currently serves as the chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party.-Political life:...
noted "the Upstate of South Carolina has always played such a significant role in deciding the Republican nomination." Participants included Herman Cain
Herman Cain
Herman Cain is a candidate for the 2012 U.S. Republican Party presidential nomination.Cain has a background as a business executive, syndicated columnist, and radio host from Georgia. He served as chairman and CEO of Godfather's Pizza from 1986 to 1996...
, Gary Johnson
Gary Johnson
Gary Johnson may refer to:*Gary Johnson , former Governor of New Mexico and candidate for President in 2012*Gary Johnson , American politician, Wisconsin State Assembly...
, Ron Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
, Tim Pawlenty
Tim Pawlenty
Timothy James "Tim" Pawlenty , also known affectionately among supporters as T-Paw, is an American politician who served as the 39th Governor of Minnesota . He was a Republican candidate for President of the United States in the 2012 election from May to August 2011...
, and Rick Santorum
Rick Santorum
Richard John "Rick" Santorum is a lawyer and a former United States Senator from the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Santorum was the chairman of the Senate Republican Conference -making him the third-ranking Senate Republican from 2001 until his leave in 2007. Santorum is considered both a social...
; notably absent are Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...
, Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin
Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...
, Newt Gingrich
Newt Gingrich
Newton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich is a U.S. Republican Party politician who served as the House Minority Whip from 1989 to 1995 and as the 58th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999....
, Mitch Daniels
Mitch Daniels
Mitchell Elias "Mitch" Daniels, Jr. is the 49th and current Governor of the U.S. state of Indiana. A Republican, he began his first four-year term as governor on January 10, 2005, and was elected to his second term by an 18-point margin on November 4, 2008. Previously, he was the Director of the...
, and Mike Huckabee
Mike Huckabee
Michael "Mike" Dale Huckabee is an American politician who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won . He won...
. Due to press restrictions by the debate's sponsors, the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
and Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
announced they would not be covering the event.
Current elected officials
The South Carolina Republican Party controls all nine statewide offices and holds majorities in the South Carolina Senate and the South Carolina House of Representatives. Republicans also hold both of the state's U.S. Senate seats and five of the state's six U.S. House seats.In 2010, a Republican became the representative of South Carolina's 5th congressional district
South Carolina's 5th congressional district
The 5th Congressional District of South Carolina is a congressional district in northern South Carolina bordering North Carolina. It includes all of Cherokee, Chester, Chesterfield, Darlington, Dillon, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lancaster, Marlboro, Newberry and York counties and parts of Florence, Lee...
, the first Republican to represent that district since Robert Smalls
Robert Smalls
Robert Smalls was an enslaved African American who, during and after the American Civil War, became a ship's pilot, sea captain, and politician. He freed himself and his family from slavery on May 13, 1862, by commandeering a Confederate transport ship, the Planter, to freedom in Charleston harbor...
, the party's co-founder, held the seat in 1883.
U.S. House of Representatives
- Tim ScottTim Scott (politician)Timothy Eugene "Tim" Scott is the U.S. Representative for . Elected in November 2010 to the 112th Congress, he and Allen West of Florida are the first Republican African-American Representatives from the South since Reconstruction, and the first Republican African-American members of Congress...
, 1st districtSouth Carolina's 1st congressional districtThe 1st Congressional District of South Carolina is a coastal congressional district in South Carolina. It stretches from Seabrook Island in the south to the North Carolina border and includes parts of Charleston, Dorchester, Berkeley and Georgetown counties and all of Horry county... - Joe WilsonJoe Wilson (U.S. politician)Addison Graves Wilson, Sr., most commonly known as Joe Wilson , is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2001. He is a member of the Republican Party...
, 2nd districtSouth Carolina's 2nd congressional districtThe 2nd Congressional District of South Carolina is a congressional district in central and eastern South Carolina. It includes all of Lexington, Beaufort, Jasper, Hampton, Allendale and Barnwell counties; most of Richland County and parts of Aiken, Calhoun and Orangeburg counties... - Jeff DuncanJeff Duncan (politician)Jeffrey D. Duncan is the U.S. Representative for who is a member of the Republican Party. He is formerly a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives.- Early life, education, and career:...
, 3rd districtSouth Carolina's 3rd congressional districtThe 3rd Congressional District of South Carolina is a congressional district in western South Carolina bordering both Georgia and North Carolina. It includes all of Abbeville, Anderson, Edgefield, Greenwood, Laurens, McCormick, Oconee, Pickens and Saluda counties and approximately half of Aiken... - Trey GowdyTrey GowdyHarold Watson "Trey" Gowdy III is the U.S. Representative for . He is a member of the Republican Party. Before his election to Congress, he was the solicitor for the state's Seventh Judicial Circuit, comprising Spartanburg and Cherokee counties.- Early life :He was born in 1964 in Greenville,...
, 4th districtSouth Carolina's 4th congressional districtThe 4th Congressional District of South Carolina is a congressional district in upstate South Carolina bordering North Carolina. It includes all of Greenville, Spartanburg and Union counties and a part of Laurens county. The district is characterized by the two major cities of Greenville and... - Mick MulvaneyMick MulvaneyJohn Michael "Mick" Mulvaney is the U.S. Representative for . He is a member of the Republican Party. He is formerly a member of the South Carolina Senate representing District 16...
, 5th districtSouth Carolina's 5th congressional districtThe 5th Congressional District of South Carolina is a congressional district in northern South Carolina bordering North Carolina. It includes all of Cherokee, Chester, Chesterfield, Darlington, Dillon, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lancaster, Marlboro, Newberry and York counties and parts of Florence, Lee...
Statewide offices
- Governor: Nikki HaleyNikki HaleyNimrata Nikki Randhawa Haley is the 116th and current Governor of South Carolina. A member of the Republican Party, Haley represented Lexington County in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 2005 to 2010....
- Lieutenant Governor: Ken ArdKen Ard (politician)Ken Ard is the 88th and current Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina, having taken office on January 12, 2011.-Early life:Ken Ard was born in Pamplico, South Carolina, on December 18, 1963...
- Secretary of StateSecretary of State of South CarolinaThe Secretary of State of South Carolina is an elected position in the U.S. state of South Carolina.-Organization:The Secretary of State's office has four internal divisions:...
: Mark HammondMark Hammond (politician)Mark Hammond , is an American Republican politician from South Carolina. He is currently South Carolina Secretary of State.-Early life and career:... - Attorney General: Alan WilsonAlan Wilson (South Carolina politician)Alan McCrory Wilson is an American attorney and politician, currently serving as the 51st Attorney General of South Carolina. He is a member of the Republican party.-Early Life and education:...
- State Treasurer: Curtis Loftis
- Comptroller General: Richard Eckstrom
- Superintendent of Education: Mick Zais
- Adjutant GeneralSouth Carolina Adjutant GeneralThe Adjutant General of South Carolina is head of the Military Department for that state, overseeing the South Carolina Army National Guard, the South Carolina Air National Guard, and the South Carolina State Guard. The office is the only adjutant general in the nation that is an elected position...
: Robert E. Livingston Jr. - Commissioner of Agriculture: Hugh Weathers
State LegislatureSouth Carolina General AssemblyThe 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...
- President Pro Tem of the Senate: Glenn F. McConnellGlenn F. McConnellGlenn F. McConnell is a Republican member of the South Carolina Senate, representing the 41st District since 1980 and currently serving as President Pro Tempore....
- Speaker of the House: Bobby Harrell
Important past elected officials
Strom ThurmondStrom Thurmond
James Strom Thurmond was an American politician who served as a United States Senator. He also ran for the Presidency of the United States in 1948 as the segregationist States Rights Democratic Party candidate, receiving 2.4% of the popular vote and 39 electoral votes...
(December 5, 1902 – June 26, 2003) was a United States Senator from South Carolina from 1954 to 2003. He holds the records for longest senate career, oldest voting member of the Senate in history,retiring just shy of his 100th birthday, and the record for longest filibuster in senate history at 24 hours and 18 minutes.
Leadership
The current state party officers are:- Chairman: Chad Connelly
- National Committeewoman: Cindy Costa
- National Committeeman: Glenn McCall
- First Vice Chairman: Lin Bennett
- Second Vice Chairman: E.J Cousar
- Third Vice Chairman: Adam Piper
- Treasurer: Dan Herren
- Secretary: Delinda Ridings
- Parliamentarian: Drew McKissick
Previous state chairmen include: Katon Dawson
Katon Dawson
Katon Edwards Dawson is an American politician from the state of South Carolina, former chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party and was a 2009 candidate for chairman of the Republican National Committee.-Early life:...
of Columbia, Henry McMaster
Henry McMaster
Henry Dargan McMaster is South Carolina's Republican attorney general, having been first elected on November 5, 2002. He was a unsuccessful candidate for the GOP nomination in the 2010 South Carolina gubernatorial election.- Biography :McMaster received a bachelor's degree in history from the...
of Columbia, Barry D. Wynn of Spartanburg, Vann Hipp of Charleston, and Greg Shorey of Spartanburg.