Republicans have won a supermajority in the Senate by gaining at least two seats, and are on track to gain two more seats in the Senate. The likely 34-seat caucus in the 46-member House could lead to even more conservative policies that fell through when the Republican Party held just 30 seats.
The GOP ousted state Sen. Vernon Stephens, D-Orangeburg, in District 39 and state Sen. Kevin Johnson, D-Clarendon, in District 36.
Stephens lost to Republican attorney Tom Fernandez and Johnson lost to Jeff Zell of Sumter County.
After Tuesday’s results, two districts will move to automatic recounts: District 17, where Sen. Mike Fanning, D-Fairfield, trails Republican Everett Stubbs by 32 votes, and District 29, where Sen. Gerald Malloy trails Republican J.D. Chaplin with 287 votes.
Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey of Edgefield County said he expects the caucus to meet in the coming weeks to talk about agenda priorities.
Massey said he expects legislation on education grant bills after the state Supreme Court struck down the program, as well as joint and several liability legislation, that would address South Carolina’s future energy needs.
“We had some good candidates and these are serious people,” Massey said. “They’re coming because they want to serve and they want to try to make South Carolina a better place, so I know those new senators are going to want to work and work to advance a conservative agenda. ”
But with the primary defeat of the three Republican female senators, the additional Senate seats could once again motivate Republicans to try to enact a total abortion ban, or a near-total ban. South Carolina law currently prohibits abortions after heart activity can be detected, which is usually around the sixth week of a pregnancy, when a woman may not know she is pregnant.
“That problem is different,” Massey said. “It’s a lot more personal and individual and so that’s one of those things where I have to talk to everyone and try to get a better sense of where people are.”
With the new supermajority in the Senate, the House could look to the Senate to take the lead on this issue. The House of Representatives previously passed a ban that starts at conception, but the Senate did not have the votes to pass it.
“We have dealt with the abortion issue many times and our friends in the Senate have sometimes left it there. Now we believe that with the changes that have taken place in the Senate, they may have the majority they need to get anything done and we look forward to them sending us a bill,” said Senate Majority Leader Davey Hiott. majority in the House of Representatives.
A bright spot for Democrats is state Rep. Russell Ott’s victory in state Sen. District 26, succeeding state Sen. Nikki Setzler, D-Lexington. Ott, a Democrat from Calhoun County, now moves from the House of Representatives, where Republicans had a supermajority, to the Senate, where Republicans will now have a supermajority.
“I think if Republicans don’t listen to Democrats in the Senate, they will do so to their own detriment,” Ott said. “I think you can just look at the House and see the dysfunction that’s happening there. I think once you get that supermajority in the Senate, I don’t know why they would think it’s going to be any different. So look, I can’t make those kinds of predictions. The only thing I can control is the way I conduct myself.”
The House of Representatives has been riddled with dysfunction as hardline conservative members have tried to block legislation pushed by Republican leaders because they do not believe it is conservative enough.
Having so many Republicans in the caucus could create a leadership challenge, Massey said.
“If we can make sure that everyone has a seat at the table and everyone is involved in the process, then I’m hopeful that this will keep us moving like we’ve always been moving,” Massey said. “That has worked well for us over the last four years, but I think it is important that everyone is heard and that everyone feels like they are part of the team.”
House margins remained the same
Democrats’ hopes of taking action in the House of Representatives did not materialize. They sought to roll back four seats they lost in 2022 that were previously held by Black lawmakers, including three seats that fall within U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn’s district.
Republicans retained all four seats: District 12, District 64, District 116 and District 122.
Following a 2022 redistricting lawsuit settlement, Democrats gained a seat in this election after a district was returned to Richland County.
But the GOP responded by flipping state House District 102, where Republican Harriet Holman defeated state Rep. Joe Jefferson, D-Dorchester. Holman is a former Democrat who served on the Democratic National Committee’s platform committee in 2020.
The Republicans won 88 seats in the House of Representatives and the Democrats 36 seats.
In Tuesday’s elections, 74 of the 124 seats in the House of Representatives had only one of the major parties on the ballot. In the Senate, 24 seats had only one of the major parties on the ballot. Because of the way districts are constructed in South Carolina, most competitive elections take place in the primaries, not during the general election.
S.C. GOP Chairman Drew McKissick declined to say what he wanted to see the Legislature tackle first in the upcoming session.
‘I let them discuss the differences and how they want to approach our priorities. We establish priorities. They decide how best to handle legislation, so it will be a very different legislative session next year,” McKissick told reporters outside the SCGOP office.
But he did say the supermajority in the Senate should help Republicans advance their priorities.
“It’s obviously going to make it virtually impossible for Democrats to filibuster and suppress legislation now that we have a supermajority there,” McKissick said. “So I think we’ll see that the Senate can move even faster than it certainly has in the past, and maybe even compete with the House of Representatives and how quickly they can move.”
