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Karl Allen

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Karl Allen
Democratic Party
South Carolina State Senate District 7
Tenure
2012 - Present
Term ends
2028
Years in position
14
Prior offices:
South Carolina House of Representatives
Years in office: 2000 - 2012
Compensation
Base salary
$10,400/year
Per diem
$240.07/day
Elections and appointments
Last election
November 5, 2024
Education
Bachelor's
University of South Carolina, 1982
Law
University of South Carolina, 1986
Personal
Profession
Attorney
Contact
Official website
Official Facebook
Official Instagram
Campaign Facebook
Personal Facebook
Personal LinkedIn

Karl Allen (Democratic Party) is a member of the South Carolina State Senate, representing District 7. He assumed office in 2012. His current term ends on November 13, 2028.

Allen (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the South Carolina State Senate to represent District 7. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Biography

Allen earned his B.A. and J.D. from the University of South Carolina in 1982 and 1986, respectively. Allen was admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1992. His professional experience includes working as an attorney.

Committee assignments

2025-2026

Allen was assigned to the following committees:

2023-2024

Allen was assigned to the following committees:

2021-2022

Allen was assigned to the following committees:

2019-2020

Allen was assigned to the following committees:

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

South Carolina committee assignments, 2017
• Corrections and Penology
• Finance
• General
• Labor, Commerce, and Industry
• Rules

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Allen served on the following committees:

2013-2014

At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Allen served on the following committees:

2011-2012

In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Allen served on the following committees:

2009-2010

In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Allen served on the following committees:

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.

Elections

2024

See also: South Carolina State Senate elections, 2024

General election

General election for South Carolina State Senate District 7

Incumbent Karl Allen won election in the general election for South Carolina State Senate District 7 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Karl Allen
Karl Allen (D)
 
97.1
 
29,967
 Other/Write-in votes
 
2.9
 
906

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 30,873
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for South Carolina State Senate District 7

Incumbent Karl Allen defeated Michelle Goodwin-Calwile in the Democratic primary for South Carolina State Senate District 7 on June 11, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Karl Allen
Karl Allen
 
68.0
 
2,576
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Michelle Goodwin-Calwile
 
32.0
 
1,211

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 3,787
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Campaign finance

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Allen in this election.

2020

See also: South Carolina State Senate elections, 2020

General election

General election for South Carolina State Senate District 7

Incumbent Karl Allen defeated Jack Logan in the general election for South Carolina State Senate District 7 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Karl Allen
Karl Allen (D)
 
62.5
 
26,672
Image of Jack Logan
Jack Logan (R)
 
37.2
 
15,886
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.3
 
107

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 42,665
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for South Carolina State Senate District 7

Incumbent Karl Allen defeated Fletcher Smith in the Democratic primary for South Carolina State Senate District 7 on June 9, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Karl Allen
Karl Allen
 
70.1
 
6,210
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Fletcher Smith
 
29.9
 
2,647

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 8,857
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Jack Logan advanced from the Republican primary for South Carolina State Senate District 7.

2016

See also: South Carolina State Senate elections, 2016

Elections for the South Carolina State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election took place on June 14, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The primary runoff election was held on June 28, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was March 30, 2016.

Incumbent Karl Allen defeated Glen Robinson in the South Carolina State Senate District 7 general election.[1][2]

South Carolina State Senate, District 7 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Karl Allen Incumbent 61.96% 21,518
     Republican Glen Robinson 38.04% 13,209
Total Votes 34,727
Source: South Carolina State Election Commission


Incumbent Karl Allen defeated Lillian Brock Flemming in the South Carolina State Senate District 7 Democratic primary.[3][4]

South Carolina State Senate, District 7 Democratic Primary, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Karl Allen Incumbent 71.07% 2,749
     Democratic Lillian Brock Flemming 28.93% 1,119
Total Votes 3,868
Source: South Carolina State Election Commission


Glen Robinson ran unopposed in the South Carolina State Senate District 7 Republican primary.[5][6]

South Carolina State Senate, District 7 Republican Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Republican Green check mark transparent.png Glen Robinson  (unopposed)

2012

See also: South Carolina State Senate elections, 2012

Allen won election in the 2012 election for South Carolina State Senate District 7. Allen defeated Lillian Brock-Fleming in the June 12 Democratic primary and defeated Jane Kizer (R) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[7][8][9][10]

South Carolina State Senate, District 7, General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngKarl Allen 65.3% 21,964
     Republican Jane Kizer 34.3% 11,535
     Other Write-Ins 0.5% 152
Total Votes 33,651

Note: Allen was also the Working Families Party candidate, and he earned 1,405 votes of his total as the Working Families Party candidate on the ballot.

South Carolina State Senate District 7 Democratic Primary, 2012
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngKarl Allen 54.8% 2,331
Lillian Brock Flemming 45.2% 1,920
Total Votes 4,251

2010

See also: South Carolina House of Representatives elections, 2010

Allen ran unopposed in the June 8 Democratic primary for District 25 of the South Carolina House of Representatives. Allen won, after running unopposed, in the general election on November 2.[11]

South Carolina House of Representatives, District 25 (2010)
Candidates Votes Percent
Green check mark transparent.png Karl Allen (D) 6,893 98.64%
Write-In 95 1.36%

2008

See also: South Carolina House of Representatives elections, 2008

On November 4, 2008, Allen won re-election to the 25th District seat in the South Carolina House of Representatives, defeating Rick Freeman (R).

Allen raised $16,674 for his campaign, while Freeman raised $0.[12]

South Carolina House of Representatives, District 25 (2008)
Candidates Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Karl Allen (D) 9,877
Rick Freeman (R) 2,980

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Karl Allen did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Karl Allen did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

Karl Allen campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024South Carolina State Senate District 7Won general$47,545 $42,247
2020South Carolina State Senate District 7Won general$82,325 N/A**
2016South Carolina State Senate, District 7Won $71,832 N/A**
2012South Carolina State Senate, District 7Won $52,239 N/A**
2010South Carolina State House, District 25Won $4,550 N/A**
2008South Carolina State House, District 25Won $16,674 N/A**
2006South Carolina State House, District 25Won $3,500 N/A**
2004South Carolina State House, District 25Won $8,898 N/A**
2002South Carolina State House, District 25Won $11,515 N/A**
2000South Carolina State House, District 25Won $4,635 N/A**
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards, State legislative scorecards in South Carolina

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the South Carolina State Legislature in 2025.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the South Carolina State Legislature in 2024.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the South Carolina State Legislature in 2023.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the South Carolina State Legislature in 2022.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the South Carolina State Legislature in 2021.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the South Carolina State Legislature in 2020.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the South Carolina State Legislature in 2019.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the South Carolina State Legislature in 2018.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the South Carolina State Legislature in 2017.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the South Carolina State Legislature in 2016.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the South Carolina State Legislature in 2015.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the South Carolina State Legislature in 2014.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the South Carolina State Legislature in 2013.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the South Carolina State Legislature in 2012.

  • Club for Growth Foundation — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills supported or opposed by the organization.
  • Conservation Voters of South Carolina — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental and conservation issues.
  • Palmetto Liberty — Legislators are scored by Palmetto Liberty on bills related to "limited government, the free market, and individual liberty and responsibility."

Below you can find the scorecards found for the South Carolina State Legislature in 2011.

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.

Allen has one child.

See also

2024 Elections

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External links

Candidate

South Carolina State Senate District 7
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    South Carolina State Senate District 7
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    Footnotes

    1. ↑ South Carolina State Election Commission, "Candidate listing for the 11/8/2016 statewide general election," accessed August 26, 2016
    2. ↑ South Carolina State Election Commission, "2016 Statewide General Election," accessed November 28, 2016
    3. ↑ South Carolina Election Commission, "Candidate Tracking," accessed March 31, 2016
    4. ↑ South Carolina State Election Commission, "Unofficial primary election results," accessed June 14, 2016
    5. ↑ South Carolina Election Commission, "Candidate Tracking," accessed March 31, 2016
    6. ↑ South Carolina State Election Commission, "Unofficial primary election results," accessed June 14, 2016
    7. ↑ South Carolina State Election Commission, "2012 Candidates," accessed April 25, 2012
    8. ↑ South Carolina State Election Commission, "Official Primary Results," June 29, 2012
    9. ↑ AP.org, "South Carolina State Senate and State House Election Results," accessed November 7, 2012
    10. ↑ South Carolina State Election Commission, “2012 General Election – Official Results,” November 19, 2012
    11. ↑ South Carolina State Election Commission, "Official election results for 2010," accessed May 15, 2014
    12. ↑ Follow the Money, "2008 campaign contributions," accessed May 15, 2014

    Political offices
    Preceded by
    -     		South Carolina State Senate District 7
    2012-Present    		 Succeeded by
    -
    Preceded by
    -     		South Carolina House of Representatives
    2000-2012    		 Succeeded by
    -


    Current members of the South Carolina State Senate
    Leadership
    Senate President:Thomas Alexander
    Majority Leader:Shane Massey
    Minority Leader:Brad Hutto
    Senators
    District 1
    District 2
    Rex Rice (R)
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    Ed Sutton (D)
    District 21
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    Tom Young (R)
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    Tom Davis (R)
    Republican Party (34)
    Democratic Party (12)


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