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South Carolina Democratic Party | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chairperson | Christale Spain |
| Senate Minority Leader | Brad Hutto |
| House Minority Leader | J. Todd Rutherford |
| Headquarters | 1929 Gadsden Columbia, South Carolina |
| National affiliation | Democratic Party |
| Colors | Blue |
| Seats in theU.S. Senate | 0 / 2 |
| Seats in theU.S. House of Representatives | 1 / 7 |
| Statewide Executive Offices | 1 / 9 |
| Seats in theSouth Carolina Senate | 15 / 46 |
| Seats in theSouth Carolina House of Representatives | 36 / 124 |
| Website | |
| www | |
TheSouth Carolina Democratic Party is the affiliate of theDemocratic Party in theU.S. state ofSouth Carolina. It is headquartered inColumbia, South Carolina.
The Democratic Party thrived during theSecond Party System between 1832 and the mid-1850s and was one of the causes of the collapse of theWhig Party.
Between 1880 and 1948, South Carolina's Democratic Party dominated state politics. The1948 presidential election marked the winds of change asStrom Thurmond ran on behalf of the States' Rights Democratic Party (Dixiecrats). He accumulated 71% of the votes cast in South Carolina that year.[1]
Nearly 100 years after the conclusion of theAmerican Civil War (around 1949), the state was still preoccupied with racial tension, which muffled the debate about essentially all other issues. During this time, all politics revolved around the Democratic Party. Furthermore, a single faction typically dominated local politics. South Carolina was locked into thetraditionalistic culture dominant throughout the South. Political change was often resisted by South Carolina's agrarian leaders. The agrarian leaders were middle-class farmers that were thought to maintain the status quo of the Democratic Party. In 1942, a party convention overwhelmingly voted to continue theall-white primary to preventAfrican-American influence.[2] For much ofSouth Carolina's history, the lower class was generally not allowed to vote.[3]
A major shift began inSouth Carolina politics with PresidentLyndon B. Johnson'sCivil Rights Act of 1964, with whites switching to theRepublican Party.
The South Carolina Democratic Party currently control one statewide office and holds minorities in both theSouth Carolina Senate andHouse of Representatives. Democrats hold one of the state's seven U.S. House seats.
Republicans have controlled both of South Carolina's seats in theU.S. Senate since2005.Fritz Hollings was the last Democrat to represent South Carolina in the U.S. Senate. First elected in a1966 special election, Hollings opted to retire instead of seeking a seventh full term. Superintendent of EducationInez Tenenbaum ran as the Democratic nominee in the2004 election and was subsequently defeated by Republican challengerJim DeMint.
Out of the seven seats South Carolina is apportioned in theU.S. House of Representatives, one is held by Democrats:
| District | Member | Photo |
|---|---|---|
| 6th | Jim Clyburn | .jpg) |
South Carolina has not elected any Democratic candidates to statewide office since 2006, whenJim Rex was elected as the Superintendent of Education. In 2010, Rex opted not to run for re-election, instead running unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination forGovernor.
As of April 29, 2023, the state party officers were:[4]
State Party Staff:[5]
Three members of the South Carolina Democratic Party also serve on theDemocratic National Committee.[4] These are:
South Carolina political parties | ||
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