Democratic presidential vote share
40.4%
2024 · MIT Election Data and Science Lab
Governor
Henry McMaster (R)
National Governors Association
Democratic vote share, U.S. Senate elections
37.0%
2022 · MIT Election Data and Science Lab
U.S. House seats apportioned to South Carolina
7
2020 · U.S. Census Bureau
Total votes cast for president
2,548,140
2024 · MIT Election Data and Science Lab
State Legislature Control
Republican supermajority
2024
Election Results
Donald Trump carried South Carolina with about 58.2% of the vote in the 2024 presidential election.
Democratic presidential vote share
40.4%
2024 · MIT Election Data and Science Lab
Republican presidential vote share
58.2%
2024 · MIT Election Data and Science Lab
2024 Presidential Result
Trump 58.2% / Harris 40.3%
2024
Democratic presidential vote share
1976–202440.4%
MIT Election Data and Science Lab, compiled from certified state results (Harvard Dataverse).
Republican presidential vote share
1976–202458.2%
MIT Election Data and Science Lab, compiled from certified state results (Harvard Dataverse).
- •South Carolina has voted for the Republican presidential candidate in every election since 1980.
Governors
Henry McMaster (R) has been governor since 2017, with Republicans controlling both legislative chambers.
Governor
Henry McMaster (R)
National Governors Association
In office since
2017
National Governors Association
Governors listed
80
1778–present · National Governors Association
Legislature
Republican supermajority
Governors of South Carolina
| Governor | Party | In office |
|---|---|---|
| Henry McMaster | Republican | 2017–present |
| Nikki R. Haley | Republican | 2011–2017 |
| Mark Sanford | Republican | 2003–2011 |
| Jim Hodges | Democratic | 1999–2003 |
| David M. Beasley | Republican | 1995–1999 |
| Carroll A. Campbell | Republican | 1987–1995 |
| Richard Wilson Riley | Democratic | 1979–1987 |
| James Burrows Edwards | Republican | 1975–1979 |
| John Carl West | Democratic | 1971–1975 |
| Robert Evander McNair | Democratic | 1965–1971 |
| Donald Stuart Russell | Democratic | 1963–1965 |
| Ernest Frederick Hollings | Democratic | 1959–1963 |
| George Bell Timmerman | Democratic | 1955–1959 |
| James Francis Byrnes | Democratic | 1951–1955 |
| James Strom Thurmond | Democratic | 1947–1951 |
| Ransome Judson Williams | Democratic | 1945–1947 |
| Richard Manning Jeffries | Democratic | 1942–1943 |
| Joseph Emile Harley | Democratic | 1941–1942 |
| Burnet Rhett Maybank | Democratic | 1939–1941 |
| Ibra Charles Blackwood | Democratic | 1931–1935 |
| John Gardiner Richards | Democratic | 1927–1931 |
| Thomas Gordon McLeod | Democratic | 1923–1927 |
| Wilson Godfrey Harvey | Democratic | 1922–1923 |
| Robert Archer Cooper | Democratic | 1919–1922 |
| Richard Irvine Manning III | Democratic | 1915–1919 |
| Charles A. Smith | Democratic | 1915–1915 |
| Coleman Livingston Blease | Democratic | 1911–1915 |
| Martin Frederick Ansel | Democratic | 1907–1911 |
| Duncan Clinch Heyward | Democratic | 1903–1907 |
| Miles Benjamin McSweeney | Democratic | 1899–1903 |
| William Haselden Ellerbe | Democratic | 1897–1899 |
| John Gary Evans | Democratic | 1894–1897 |
| Benjamin Ryan Tillman | Democratic | 1890–1894 |
| John Peter Richardson | Democratic | 1886–1890 |
| John Calhoun Sheppard | Democratic | 1886–1886 |
| Hugh Smith Thompson | Democratic | 1882–1886 |
| Johnson Hagood | Democratic | 1880–1882 |
| Thomas Bothwell Jeter | Democratic | 1880–1880 |
| William Dunlap Simpson | Democratic | 1879–1880 |
| Wade Hampton III | Democratic | 1876–1879 |
| Daniel Henry Chamberlain | Republican | 1874–1876 |
| Franklin J. Moses | Republican | 1872–1874 |
| Robert Kingston Scott | Republican | 1868–1872 |
| James Lawrence Orr | Conservative | 1865–1868 |
| Benjamin Franklin Perry | Democratic | 1865–1865 |
| Andrew Gordon MacGrath | Democratic | 1864–1865 |
| Milledge Luke Bonham | Democratic | 1862–1864 |
| William Henry Gist | Democratic | 1858–1860 |
| Robert Francis Withers Allston | Democratic | 1856–1858 |
| James Hopkins Adams | Democratic | 1854–1856 |
| John Laurence Manning | Democratic | 1852–1854 |
| John Hugh Means | Democratic | 1850–1852 |
| Whitemarsh Benjamin Seabrook | Democratic | 1848–1850 |
| David Johnson | Democratic | 1846–1848 |
| William Aiken | Democratic | 1844–1846 |
| James Henry Hammond | Democratic | 1842–1844 |
| John Peter Richardson II | Democratic | 1840–1842 |
| Barnabas Kelet Henagan | Democratic | 1840–1840 |
| Patrick Noble | Democratic | 1838–1840 |
| Pierce Mason Butler | Democratic | 1836–1838 |
| George McDuffie | Democratic | 1834–1836 |
| Robert Young Hayne | Democratic | 1833–1834 |
| James Jr. Hamilton | Democratic | 1830–1832 |
| Stephen Decatur Miller | Democratic | 1828–1830 |
| John Taylor | Democratic-Republican | 1826–1828 |
| Richard Irvine Manning | Democratic-Republican | 1824–1826 |
| John Lyde Wilson | Democratic-Republican | 1822–1824 |
| Thomas Bennett | Democratic-Republican | 1820–1822 |
| Geddes John | Democratic-Republican | 1818–1820 |
| Andrew Pickens | Democratic-Republican | 1816–1818 |
| David Rogerson Williams | Democratic-Republican | 1814–1816 |
| Joseph Alston | Democratic-Republican | 1812–1814 |
| Henry Middleton | Democratic-Republican | 1810–1812 |
| Paul Hamilton | Democratic-Republican | 1804–1806 |
| James Burchill Richardson | Democratic-Republican | 1802–1804 |
| Edward Rutledge | Federalist | 1798–1800 |
| Arnoldus Vandershorst | Federalist | 1794–1796 |
| Thomas Pinckney | Federalist | 1787–1789 |
| William Moultrie | Federalist | 1785–1794 |
| Rawlins Lowndes | Current Governor | 1778–1779 |
Source: National Governors Association, current and former governors.
- •South Carolina’s presidential primary has become a decisive early contest for both parties.
Senators
South Carolina is represented in the U.S. Senate by Republicans Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott.
Democratic vote share, U.S. Senate elections
37.0%
2022 · MIT Election Data and Science Lab
Republican vote share, U.S. Senate elections
62.9%
2022 · MIT Election Data and Science Lab
U.S. Senators
Lindsey Graham, Tim Scott
2024
Democratic vote share, U.S. Senate elections
1978–202237%
MIT Election Data and Science Lab, compiled from certified state results (Harvard Dataverse). Regular-term races; special elections only when no regular race was held. Independents (e.g. caucusing with Democrats) are not counted as Democratic; years without a Democratic nominee are omitted.
Republican vote share, U.S. Senate elections
1978–202262.9%
MIT Election Data and Science Lab, compiled from certified state results (Harvard Dataverse).
- •Tim Scott was the first Black U.S. senator to be popularly elected in South Carolina history.
Representatives
South Carolina holds 7 U.S. House seats, with Republicans controlling 6 of them as of 2024.
U.S. House seats apportioned to South Carolina
7
2020 · U.S. Census Bureau
U.S. House Seats
7
2024
Republican Seats
6
2024
Democratic Seats
1
2024
U.S. House seats apportioned to South Carolina
1910–20207▲ 0%
U.S. Census Bureau, decennial apportionment counts.
- •Jim Clyburn, South Carolina's longtime 6th District representative, has served as House Majority Whip and a top Democratic leader.
Voting Trends
South Carolina has trended increasingly Republican in presidential elections, with about 66% voter turnout in 2024.
Total votes cast for president
2,548,140
2024 · MIT Election Data and Science Lab
2024 Voter Turnout
~66%
2024
Total votes cast for president
1976–20242,548,140▲ 217%
MIT Election Data and Science Lab, compiled from certified state results (Harvard Dataverse).
- •South Carolina's early presidential primary has made it a key testing ground for candidates in both major parties for decades.
Party Distribution
Republicans hold a supermajority in South Carolina's legislature and control the governorship as of 2024.
State Legislature Control
Republican supermajority
2024
Governor's Party
Republican
2024
- •South Carolina's state house has been under continuous Republican control since 1994.