| South Carolina Republican Party | |
| Website: | www.sc.gop |
| Abbr: | SCGOP |
| Chairperson: | Drew McKissick |
| Founded: | 1867 |
| Founder: | Robert Smalls |
| Colors: | Red |
| Seats1 Title: | Seats in the U.S. Senate |
| Seats2 Title: | Seats in the U.S. House of Representatives |
| Seats3 Title: | Statewide Executive Offices |
| Seats4 Title: | Seats in the South Carolina Senate |
| Seats5 Title: | Seats in the South Carolina House of Representatives |
| National: | Republican Party |
| Headquarters: | Columbia, South Carolina |
| State: | South Carolina |
The South Carolina Republican Party (SCGOP) is the state affiliate of the national Republican Party in South Carolina. It is one of two major political parties in the state, along with the South Carolina Democratic Party, and is the dominant party. Incumbent governor Henry McMaster, as well as senators Tim Scott and Lindsey Graham, are members of the Republican party. Graham has served since January 3, 2003, having been elected in 2002 and re-elected in 2008, 2014, and 2020; Tim Scott was appointed in 2013 by then-governor Nikki Haley, who is also a Republican.
Since 2003, every governor of South Carolina has been a Republican. Additionally, Republicans hold a supermajority in both the South Carolina Senate and South Carolina House of Representatives. In 2020, District 1, which was represented by Democrat Joe Cunningham, was won by Republican Nancy Mace; the party now represents six out of seven of the state's congressional districts.
In 1868, legislation prohibition racial discrimination in public accommodations was passed by the state house, but failed in the state senate. Benjamin F. Randolph, a state legislator and chair of the party, and another legislator were murdered that year.
The Republican Party of the United States was founded during the 1850s in response to the political tensions that revolved around slavery and came to define that era. The Republican Party's goal was to abolish slavery and preserve the hierarchy of the national government over that of the states.[1] The ensuing years were marked by an increasing divide between northern and southern states that eventually boiled over when the state of South Carolina seceded from the Union in 1860. Other southern states followed and the American Civil War began in 1861 between the Union and the newly minted Confederacy. In 1865, the conflict ended with the Union as the victor. Following this, the southern and formerly Confederate states were gradually reintroduced back into the Union of the United States with a process that came to be called the Reconstruction Era of the United States. Northern Republicans and freed slaves came to control the politics of South Carolina during this era, as Confederates were temporarily disenfranchised. The planter elite struggled to adapt to a free labor system. The Republican Party of South Carolina was established during this time and controlled the politics of South Carolina throughout Reconstruction. Democrats mounted increasing violence and fraud at elections from 1868 through the period, in an effort to suppress the black and Republican vote. In 1874, the paramilitary Red Shirts arose as a paramilitary group working openly to disrupt Republican meetings, suppress black voting and return Democrats to power. The most violence occurred in counties where blacks were a strong minority, as Democrats tried to reduce their challenge.
White Democrats led by Wade Hampton won the governorship and control of the state legislature in 1876. They dominated the state government for decades, controlling most candidates for governor and for national office. Freedmen were still able to elect Republicans to local office in some counties, giving them a say in daily government.
Following a brief coalition between the Republican Party and Populists in the late 19th century, the South Carolina legislature followed others in the South in passing a constitution to disenfranchise most blacks and many poor whites. The Constitution of 1895 was a departure from the Reconstruction Constitution of 1868 that aimed to keep the majority black population from voting.[2] However, the poll tax, property requirements and literacy requirements also keep poor whites from voting. By excluding blacks from politics, the Democrats secured their power and ended the Republican challenge. The legislatures passed such laws and constitutions from 1890 to 1908, turning most of the South into a one-party region dominated by Democrats. The Solid South disenfranchised large portions of its states' populations. The exclusion of freedmen and their descendants from the political system resulted in the South Carolina Republican Party with very little influence within the state for generations after. This control would last until the second half of the twentieth century.[3]
In the 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement intensified in the South, and in early July 1964, the Civil Rights Act was passed. The Act, passed with the support of Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson, ended legal segregation in public accommodations.
On September 16, 1964, 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."[4] He said it 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".[5] The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed the following year, restoring the ability of minorities to vote through federal oversight of registration and electoral processes.
In 1967, Carolyn Frederick was elected to represent House District 22 in Greenville County. Frederick the first Republican woman elected to the House.[6]
In 1974, James B. Edwards became the first Republican to be elected the Governor of South Carolina since Reconstruction. Since the late 20th century, South Carolina's voters have increasingly supported Republican candidates for local, state and national offices.
In 2010, Republican Mick Mulvaney was elected as the representative of South Carolina's 5th congressional district, the first Republican to represent that district since Robert Smalls, the party's co-founder, last held the seat in 1883. The election of Mulvaney was the first break in 100+ years of Democratic control in the State Legislature.[7] Also in 2010, Republican Nikki Haley was elected the first female Governor of South Carolina and the second Indian-American, after fellow Republican Bobby Jindal, to serve as a governor in the United States.
South Carolina's January 21, 2012 Republican Presidential Preference Primary was the party's then-largest ever, drawing more than 600,000 voters. Newt Gingrich won the race with 40.4% of the vote. The highly contested election set multiple state records for a presidential primary cycle; candidates held five presidential debates and spent $13.2 million in television ads.[8] Governor Haley, mentioned above, appointed Republic Tim Scott to the U.S. Senate. Scott is the first African-American senator from South Carolina and the first from the South since 1881.[7]
The state's February 20, 2016 Republican Presidential Preference Primary saw a new turnout record of over 740,000 voters. Donald Trump won the primary with 32.5% of the vote.
As President Donald Trump faced no significant primary opposition, the SCGOP cancelled the 2020 Republican Presidential Preference Primary.[9]
The party is led by an elected group of state party officers, the South Carolina Republican Party State Executive Committee and paid staff. The state party organization is headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina.
The current state party officers are:[10]
The South Carolina Republican Party controls all nine of the nine statewide offices and holds large 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 six of the state's seven U.S. House of Representatives seats.
In 2012, Republican Tom Rice became the representative of South Carolina's 7th congressional district, newly re-established because of population gains. He is the first person to represent that district since it was eliminated in 1933.
In a 2013 special election, former Republican Governor Mark Sanford was elected as the representative of South Carolina's 1st congressional district, returning to the seat he previously held from 1995 to 2001.
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Robert E. Livingston Jr.