2026 South Carolina legislative session

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2026 South Carolina legislative session
General information
Scheduled session start:    Jan. 13, 2026 Scheduled session end:    May 7, 2026
Leadership
Senate President Thomas Alexander (R) House Speaker G. Murrell Smith Jr. (R) Majority Leader Senate: Shane Massey (R) House: Davey Hiott (R) Minority Leader Senate: Brad Hutto (D) House: James Rutherford (D)
Elections
Next Election:    November 3, 2026 Last Election:    November 5, 2024
Previous legislative sessions
2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018
Other 2026 legislative sessions
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In 2026, the South Carolina State Legislature is scheduled to convene on January 13, 2026, and adjourn on May 7, 2026.

The legislators serving in this session took office following the 2024 elections. Republicans won a 34-12 majority in the Senate and an 88-36 majority in the House. The party also controlled the governorship, creating a Republican state government trifecta. At the start of the 2026 session, South Carolina was one of 19 state legislatures where Republicans had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers.

At the beginning of the 2026 legislative session:

Republicans held a majority in the South Carolina state House and state Senate.

South Carolina was one of 23 Republican state government trifectas.

South Carolina's governor was Republican Henry McMaster.

Leadership in 2026

See also: Leadership positions in state legislatures

South Carolina State Senate

• Senate president: Thomas Alexander (R)
• Majority leader: Shane Massey (R)
• Minority leader: Brad Hutto (D)

South Carolina House of Representatives

• Speaker of the House: G. Murrell Smith Jr. (R)
• Majority leader: Davey Hiott (R)
• Minority leader: James Rutherford (D)

Partisan control in 2026

See also: State government trifectas

South Carolina was one of 23 Republican state government trifectas at the start of 2026 legislative sessions. A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. For more information about state government trifectas, click here.

South Carolina was also one of 19 state legislatures where Republicans had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers. Veto overrides occur when a legislature votes to reverse a veto issued by an executive such as a governor or the president. If one party has a majority in a state legislature that is large enough to override a gubernatorial veto without any votes from members of the minority party, it is called a veto-proof majority or, sometimes, a supermajority. To read more about veto-proof supermajorities in state legislatures, click here.

The following tables show the partisan breakdown of the South Carolina State Legislature in the 2026 legislative session.

South Carolina State Senate

Partisan composition, South Carolina State Senate

As of February 2026
Party	Members
Democratic	12
Republican	34
Other	0
Vacancies	0
Total	46

South Carolina House of Representatives

Partisan composition, South Carolina House of Representatives

As of February 2026
Party	Members
Democratic	36
Republican	88
Other	0
Vacancies	0
Total	124

Regular session

The list below shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2026 legislative session that most recently passed both chambers of the legislature, were signed by the governor, or were approved by the legislature in a veto override. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation has met these criteria yet in 2026. This information is provided by BillTrack50.

Standing legislative committees

See also: Standing committee and List of committees in South Carolina state government

A standing committee of a state legislature is a committee that exists on a more-or-less permanent basis, from legislative session to session, that considers and refines legislative bills that fall under the committee's subject matter.

At the beginning of the 2026 legislative session, there were 27 standing committees in South Carolina's state government, including one joint legislative committees, 14 state Senate committees, and 12 state House committees.

Joint legislative committees

• Interstate Cooperation Committee

Senate committees

• Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee
• Banking and Insurance Committee
• Corrections and Penology Committee
• Education Committee
• Family and Veterans' Services Committee
• Finance Committee
• Fish, Game, and Forestry Committee
• Labor, Commerce, and Industry Committee
• Medical Affairs Committee
• Senate Ethics Committee
• Senate Judiciary Committee
• Senate Legislative Oversight Committee
• Senate Rules Committee
• Transportation Committee

House committees

• Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee
• Education and Public Works Committee
• House Ethics Committee
• House Judiciary Committee
• House Legislative Oversight Committee
• House Rules Committee
• Invitations and Memorial Resolutions Committee
• Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee
• Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs Committee
• Operations and Management Committee
• Regulations and Administrative Procedures Committee
• Ways and Means Committee

Legislatively referred constitutional amendments

In every state but Delaware, voter approval is required to enact a constitutional amendment. In each state, the legislature has a process for referring constitutional amendments before voters. In 18 states, initiated constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot through a signature petition drive. There are also many other types of statewide measures.

The methods by which the South Carolina Constitution can be amended:

See also: Article XVI of the South Carolina Constitution and Laws governing ballot measures in South Carolina

The South Carolina Constitution provides two mechanisms for amending the state's constitution— a legislative process and a state constitutional convention. South Carolina requires a simple majority vote (50% plus 1) for voters to approve constitutional amendments.

Legislature

See also: Legislatively referred constitutional amendment

A two-thirds (66.67%) vote is required during one legislative session for the South Carolina State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 82 votes in the South Carolina House of Representatives and 30 votes in the South Carolina State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.

In South Carolina, the Legislature needs to approve a constitutional amendment for a second time after voters approve the amendment. This second vote requires a simple majority in the House and Senate.

Convention

See also: Convention-referred constitutional amendment

According to Section 3 of Article XVI of the South Carolina Constitution, a constitutional convention can be held if two-thirds of the members of both houses of the South Carolina State Legislature vote to put the question on the ballot.

Historical partisan control

The table below depicts the historical trifecta status of South Carolina.

South Carolina Party Control: 1992-2026
No Democratic trifectas  •  Twenty-four years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26
Governor	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
Senate	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
House	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

Historical Senate control

Republicans won control of the South Carolina State Senate in 2000. In 2024, they won a 34-12 majority.

The table below shows the partisan history of the South Carolina Senate following every general election from 1992 to 2024. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

South Carolina State Senate election results: 1992-2024

Party	'92	'96	'00	'04	'08	'12	'16	'20	'24
Democrats	30	26	22	19	19	18	18	16	12
Republicans	16	20	24	27	27	28	28	30	34

Historical House control

Republicans won control of the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1994. In 2024, they won an 88-35 majority with one vacancy.

The table below shows the partisan history of the South Carolina House following every general election from 1992 to 2024. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

South Carolina House of Representatives election results: 1992-2024

Year	'92	'94	'96	'98	'00	'02	'04	'06	'08	'10	'12	'14	'16	'18	'20	'22	'24
Democrats	73	58	53	59	54	51	50	51	53	48	46	47	44	44	43	36	35
Republicans	50	62	70	64	70	73	74	73	71	75	78	77	80	80	81	88	88

Analysis

Adopted legislation, 2011-2024

See also: The State Legislative Decade - South Carolina

In 2024, Ballotpedia released analysis of bills enacted in each state in the preceding decade. The charts and table below detail legislation passed each year by party sponsorship.

See also

Elections	South Carolina State Government	State Legislatures	State Politics
South Carolina State Senate elections, 2028 South Carolina House of Representatives elections, 2026	South Carolina State Legislature South Carolina House of Representatives South Carolina State Senate Governor of South Carolina South Carolina Supreme Court	State legislative elections, 2026 State legislative special elections, 2026 State legislative elections, 2024 State legislative elections, 2022	State government trifectas State government triplexes Veto overrides in state legislatures State executives State courts Ballot measures

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• South Carolina State Legislature homepage

Footnotes

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2026

State legislative elections (2026) • State legislative special elections (2026) • Primary dates and filing requirements • 2026 Session Dates

2025

State legislative elections (2025) • State legislative special elections (2025) • Primary dates and filing requirements • 2025 Session Dates

Historical elections

2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011 • 2010 • 2009 • 2008 • 2007 • 2006 • 2005 • 2004 • 2003 • 2002 • 2001 • 2000

Features of state legislatures

How vacancies are filled in state legislatures • States with a full-time legislature • State legislatures with term limits • Comparison of state legislative salaries • When state legislators assume office after a general election • Population represented by state legislators • State constitutional articles governing state legislatures • State legislative sessions • Resign-to-run law • State legislature candidate requirements by state • Official names of state legislatures • State legislative chambers that use multi-member districts • Factors Affecting Competitiveness in State Legislative Elections

State senates

Length of terms of state senators • State senators • Partisan composition of state senates • State senators sorted by year first elected

State houses

Length of terms of state representatives • State representatives • Partisan composition of state houses • State representatives sorted by year first elected

Leadership positions

President of the Senate • President Pro Tempore • Senate Majority Leader • Senate Minority Leader • House Majority Leader • House Minority Leader • State Speaker of the House

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