SC’s 21 new lawmakers make the state Legislature more diverse, conservative
When Katrina Shealy was elected to the state Senate in 2012, the Lexington Republican was the only woman in the Capitol’s upper chamber. Oftentimes, she says, her colleagues had a difficult time realizing she was even in the room.
“Everybody was nice. It was cordial,” Shealy said. “But I think they had to get used to doing things a little bit different.”
Come January, thanks to voters, women will have grown their ranks from four to five in the Senate, a chamber historically dominated by men, comprising almost a tenth of the Senate’s membership.
“Isn’t that like a Christmas miracle?” Shealy said.
Other changes are notable, too.
On election night, South Carolinians made the General Assembly more racially diverse, after the elections of five new Black lawmakers — bringing the total number to 34, up from 32 — who in two cases won seats previously held by white lawmakers.
And more women will serve in the State House next year, after the November elections of five women candidates that included Republican Penry Gustafson in the state Senate and the House reelection of Democrat Spencer Wetmore, who first won an August special election to fill the unexpired term of former state Rep. Peter McCoy, now U.S. attorney of South Carolina.
That is despite the case that two women — former Reps. Laurie Funderburk and Nancy Mace — were succeeded by men.
South Carolina still ranks low in the country when it comes to gender diversity in state legislatures.
But it was the Republican Party that recorded the biggest shift, holding every seat but one they held previously and flipping five, giving the party even more control in a state with a Republican governor, who will be up for reelection for his second term in 2022.
Sixteen of the newcomers are Republicans and five are Democrats, giving Republicans a slightly bigger edge with now 111 of the Legislature’s 170 members, up from the 106 the party had in the previous General Assembly.
When South Carolina’s 170 legislators begin their work in January with a return to the Capitol, they’ll include 21 new faces when chamber leaders gavel their respective members in.
Fifteen of those freshman will take their seats in the 124-member House and six will join their colleagues in the 46-member Senate.
They are former educators, school board members, police officers and small business owners.
And they are more conservative after campaigning in a year in which President Donald Trump ran at the top of the ticket, with three out of five S.C. Republican voters casting a straight-party ballot.
But despite party and ideological differences, they’ll all be set to debate the same consequential issues in the coming years that’ll include redistricting, tackling spending priorities after a sweeping COVID-19 outbreak in the state and more conservative policy priorities, from guns to anti-abortion legislation that Gov. Henry McMaster says he will sign should it cross desk.
Here’s how election night shaped South Carolina’s new freshman class and the General Assembly:
Voters helped increase diversity
Though not a large gain over last year’s membership, S.C. voters did in fact elect more women and people of color this year.
In the Senate, Republicans flipped a Midlands seat held by two-time gubernatorial hopeful state Sen. Vincent Sheheen, a Camden Democrat. Succeeding Sheheen is newly elected state Sen. Penry Gustafson, a former small business owner and community advocate.
Gustafson’s win gives women five seats in the Senate but it also helped Senate Republicans grow its membership to 30, up from 27. And in the House, three female representatives joined the chamber as newcomers, including two who succeed male lawmakers.
New state Reps. Kimberly Johnson, of Clarendon, and Chardale Murray, of Charleston, held seats for Democrats previously represented by Reps. Robert Ridgeway and Robert Brown, respectively. Freshman state Rep. Sandy McGarry, R-Lancaster, flipped the seat held by former Democratic Rep. Mandy Powers Norrell.
Yet despite the newcomers to the women’s caucus, women still make up close to the same number of legislators as last year — now 25 compared with 23 at the start of the last session. That’s because two seats held by now former state Reps. Laurie Funderburk, of Kershaw, and Nancy Mace, of Charleston, were won by two men: Reps. Vic Dabney and Mark Smith.
“It’s significant,” Gustafson said of the increase in women members but also the Republicans larger grasp. “Our General Assembly, this year especially coming up, has a weight on its shoulders with important big topics at hand. I am fully aware of the balance where it sits now between the political parties. And I’m going to do all I can to assist in good legislation and fiscally-responsible legislation.”
Black legislators also increased their membership this year.
In the upcoming two-year session, the S.C. House will have 34 Black legislators compared with 32 last year after the elections of new Reps. Johnson and Jermaine Johnson of Lower Richland, who unseated veteran Rep. Jimmy Bales in the June primary ending the Richland Democrat’s 22 years in the State House. Both Democrats succeeded white lawmakers.
In the Senate, Black senators now make up 11 of the Democratic Caucus’ 16 members — down from 12 — after longtime Sen. Floyd Nicholson, of Greenwood, was defeated by Republican Billy Garrett, who is white.
Richland’s Jermaine Johnson told The State he recognizes the historical significance of his own election this year.
“Mainly I want to learn as much as possible. I want to learn from both sides of the aisle, learn from Republicans and Democrats,” he said. “The good thing about my position is I didn’t really have to align myself to anybody. I feel good about that so I can go in there and learn so I can make the best decisions for my district.”
Voters gave GOP more power, flipped one seat blue
South Carolina voters gave the state’s Republican Party more power on election night, gains largely credited to a nationalized U.S. Senate race between incumbent Sen. Lindsey Graham and Democrat Jaime Harrison that helped trigger straight-party ticket voters.
Now, the GOP holds an even stronger majority in the House with 81 members and 30 members in the Senate, up from 79 in the House and 27 in the Senate after flipping five total new seats.
The Nov. 3 elections of 11 new House Republicans — two of who flipped two seats — and five new Republican senators — three of who flipped seats — helped make that happen.
Those gains could mean overwhelming legislative wins for Republicans, especially in the House where representatives will be up for reelection in two years and where GOP leaders say they plan to tackle legislation that is pro-gun, abortion and law enforcement in 2021.
“The Democratic Party just lost touch with Americans,” new Republican state Rep. Dabney, of Kershaw, who flipped the seat formerly held by Democrat Funderburk, said of why Republicans were able to flip so many seats this year. “The violence that happened this year, all the craziness in 2020, I made sure that the people who had been a part of that party and continue to still support that party, they were held accountable.”
Democrats on the other hand didn’t have much to celebrate after election night.
They lost three seats in the Senate and two in the House, diminishing their power in either body.
But the party did have one win this year.
In August, Democrats flipped a Republican Lowcountry seat previously held by former Rep. McCoy, who vacated his seat to become South Carolina’s U.S. attorney. Democratic state Rep. Wetmore won the special election to fill his unexpired term and held the seat again on Nov. 3.
The attorney and former city administrator of Folly Beach told The State that while she recognizes the importance of her win for Democrats this year, she hopes to put the hyper-partisan politics to the side as she said was similar to her campaign’s theme this year.
“Yes, I am a Democrat because I believe in a lot of the party’s goals. Certainly I am going to try to prioritize things like education, the environment and health care,” said Wetmore, who described herself as moderate, adding that though it’s important to get past the “really partisan and polarized” splits and tackle policy issues that affect South Carolinians.
“I don’t think that’s a good thing for getting things done.”
Where they stand on the issues
South Carolina’s newest legislators may not have their offices or committee assignments yet.
But many told The State the policy issues they would like to tackle and debate in their first session.
They range from expanding school choice in South Carolina to raising teacher pay.
“We need to do a considerable amount of work as far as the education formula in South Carolina,” said new state Sen. Vernon Stephens, D-Orangeburg. “We’re real behind in per-pupil spending. Plus, we need to make sure that we do a better job of retaining teachers as well as recruiting teachers.”
They also want to fix the growing flooding problems on the state’s coast and ensure there is enough money to fix roads and interstates in disrepair and help law enforcement agencies across South Carolina. And several stated the need to revisit the state’s comprehensive tax system and anti-abortion legislation.
With the elections of more conservative Republicans, the party may have an easier chance of passing more controversial legislation, including a so-called “fetal heartbeat bill,” which would ban the abortion procedure after the sixth week of pregnancy despite that it would certainly face a court challenge.
“I’d like to see the advancement of the heartbeat bill, and I think we have the votes now,” said new state Sen. Josh Kimbrell, R-Spartanburg. “I think we can do that and I would certainly be willing to co-sponsor that legislation.”
New state Rep. McGarry, of Lancaster, whose election also gives Republicans an added vote in the House, also backed the proposal.
“I’m very strong right-to-life person,” she said. “I was asked to join the Family Caucus, and I’m going to go ahead and join and I’ll be helping with that.”
The new freshman told The State the weight of being able to bring their local decisions to a statewide level isn’t lost on them.
“I’ve been involved with local government for 15 years, this is another beast,” said Sen. Michael Johnson, R-York. “Where I’ve tried to improve lives locally, I can now make meaningful impacts on the statewide level. It’s something you have to take very seriously, you have to be thoughtful with the process and you always have to be careful of what the unintended consequences are. Are we doing what’s right for the majority of South Carolinians? It’s a sobering reality.”
New SC lawmakers
Voters elected 21 new South Carolina lawmakers to the General Assembly on Election Day. They are:
▪ Sen. Brian Adams, R-Berkeley
▪ Sen. Billy Garrett, R-McCormick
▪Sen. Penry Gustafson, R-Kershaw
▪ Sen. Josh Kimbrell, R-Spartanburg
▪ Sen. Michael Johnson, R-York
▪ Sen. Vernon Stephens, D-Orangeburg
▪ Rep. Case Brittain, R-Horry
▪Rep. Joe Bustos, R-Charleston
▪ Rep. Jerry Carter, R-Pickens
▪ Rep. Vic Dabney, R-Kershaw
▪ Rep. Gil Gatch, R-Dorchester
▪ Rep. Jermaine Johnson, D-Richland
▪ Rep. Kimberly Johnson, D-Clarendon
▪ Rep. RJ May, R-Lexington
▪ Rep. Ryan McCabe, R-Lexington
▪ Rep. Sandy McGarry, R-Lancaster
▪ Rep. Travis Moore, R-Spartanburg
▪ Rep. Chardale Murray, D-Charleston
▪ Rep. Roger Nutt, R-Spartanburg
▪ Rep. Mark Smith, R-Berkeley
▪ and Rep. Deon Tedder, D-Charleston
This story was originally published November 29, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
CORRECTION: An article on page 1A of Sunday’s edition in The State about South Carolina’s new freshman class of lawmakers accidentally omitted the name of a new state senator, Brian Adams of Berkeley County. The state’s new freshman legislative class is 21 members. We regret the error.
