SC’s Norman said Evette presides over the state Senate. But what’s Lt. Gov’s role?
U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, a Republican candidate for governor who wants South Carolina to enter the mid-decade redistricting efforts, called Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette the president of the state Senate.
But she doesn’t preside over the upper chamber of the general assembly, and never has.
Norman was reacting to a comment made by Evette to Politico about potential redistricting efforts in the South as the Supreme Court considers a case on the Voting Rights Act.
Mid-decade redistricting efforts are also taking place in red states sparked by President Donald Trump in order to gain more Republican seats in Congress. Democrats in blue states have responded by pushing their own efforts at mid-decade redistricting.
Although state legislative leadership in South Carolina has shown no desire to enter into a redistricting process to create a map that has seven Republican seats, up from the six they currently hold, Norman has pushed for such a measure.
Evette told Politico she, too, would like to see the GOP hold all seven U.S. House seats from South Carolina.
“If we could have a clean sweep, I would love that,” Evette said.
Norman decided to pounce on the comment to take a shot at his rival for the governor’s mansion.
“Although it took her months to do it, we welcome the Lt. Governor to this fight. She, as the President of the Senate, should urge Senate leadership to make this a top priority. We must redraw the rigged 6th!” Norman posted on X.
The post was later deleted and followed up with a new post 19 minutes later.
“Although it took her months to do it, we welcome the Lt. Governor to this fight. She should urge Senate and House leadership to make this a top priority. We must redraw the rigged 6th!” Norman wrote.
The lieutenant governor no longer presides over the state Senate and is now exclusively in the executive branch in the governor’s administration. That changed with the 2018 election when the governor and lieutenant governor began running together as a ticket. Evette was the first lieutenant governor to be elected on a ticket with a governor.
Previously the governor and lieutenant governor ran separately. The lieutenant governor presided over the state Senate.
Evette’s campaign team took the opportunity to hit back at Norman.
“Since you’ve been a politician since *checks notes* 2005, shouldn’t you know at least the very basics of state government? The Lt. Governor hasn’t presided over the state Senate since January of 2019,” Evette’s campaign posted. “Weren’t you IN the State Legislature when that debate took place? Guess you forgot or maybe just didn’t show up that day.”
On Wednesday, Norman’s team shot back.
“It’s sometimes hard to track how little Pam Evette has accomplished while in state government,” Norman Campaign Manager Evan Newman said in a statement. “We apologize for attributing more responsibility to her than she actually has. But we are grateful that she is finally supporting Ralph’s plan to redistrict the rigged 6th.”
In August, Evette’s campaign also told the Post and Courier “it’s time to end the Democrat stronghold on South Carolina’s 6th Congressional District.”
Norman has continued his push for South Carolina to redraw its congressional districts. He has amplified the message as the U.S. Supreme Court considers a case involving the Voting Rights Act and whether states had to have majority-minority districts.
“Better to be late to doing the right thing than being silent or doing the wrong thing,” Norman said in a news release Wednesday. “It’s time for our weak-kneed General Assembly to fight and give South Carolina the representation it deserves. This isn’t about politics, it’s about the future of our nation and South Carolina. Leadership is about showing the way. Let’s get everyone on board.”
Currently, U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn is the lone Democratic member of South Carolina’s congressional delegation, representing the 6th Congressional District with a Black voting age population of 47%, according to Dave’s Redistricting, a website that analyzes political leanings of state legislative and congressional districts.
Political representation is not proportional to how people vote in South Carolina.
In the 2024 election, 60% of voters in the state wanted a Republican to represent them in the U.S. House. Republicans hold 6 out of 7 seats, or 85% of the seats. Democrats only hold one seat, despite 39% of voters wanting a Democratic U.S. representative.
“Ralph Norman does not have the capacity to exist with fairness. He wants the whole game to be rigged in his favor, and that way he feels he can be successful,” Clyburn said earlier this month in an interview on MSNBC.
The last time Democrats won more than one House seat was in 2018, a midterm election with Trump in the White House. Joe Cunningham flipped the 1st Congressional District blue. U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, who is running for governor, flipped the seat back to Republicans in 2020.
When lawmakers in the Republican-controlled State House redrew the map after the 2020 census, their goal was to make sure the 1st Congressional District would be reliably Republican instead of a toss-up.
This story was originally published October 29, 2025 at 12:07 PM.
