| South Carolina Republican Party | |
|---|---|
| Chairman | Chad Connelly |
| Senate leader | Glenn F. McConnell |
| House leader | Bobby Harrell |
| Headquarters | Columbia, South Carolina |
| National affiliation | Republican Party |
| Official colors | Red |
| Seats in the Upper House |
27 / 46
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| Seats in the Lower House |
76 / 124
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| Website | |
| www.scgop.com | |
| Politics of the United States Political parties Elections |
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The South Carolina Republican Party and the South Carolina Democratic Party are the two major political parties within the U.S. state of South Carolina. The South Carolina Republican Party is an affiliate of the national Republican Party and has been the most influential political party within South Carolina since the mid-1900s.
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The primary goal of the South Carolina Republican Party, like all political party organizations, is to win elections. These elections designate officials for the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the local, state, and federal levels of government. The state legislature is composed of a Senate containing 46 elected officials and a House of Representatives with 124 members.[1] On the federal level, citizens of South Carolina also elect two senators and six representatives to the United States Congress. The executive branch of South Carolina is headed by a Governor elected to a four-year term. The state also has eight electoral college votes for every Presidential election. [2]
The party is led by an elected group of state party officers, the South Carolina Republican Party State Executive Committee and paid staff. The state party organization is headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina.
The current state party officers are:
The Republican Party of the United States was founded during the 1850s in response to the political tensions that revolved around slavery and came to define that era. The Republican Party's goal was to abolish slavery and preserve the hierarchy of the national government over that of the states.[3] The ensuing years were marked by an increasing divide between northern and southern states that eventually boiled over when the state of South Carolina seceded from the Union in 1860. Other southern states followed and the Civil War of the United States began between the Union and the newly minted Confederacy. In 1865, the conflict had finally ended with the Union as the victor. Following this, the southern and formerly Confederate states were gradually reintroduced back into the Union of the United States with a process that came to be called the Reconstruction Era of the United States. Northern Republicans and freed slaves came to control the politics of South Carolina during this era, leaving the formerly powerful white officials without the money and political sway that they previously had enjoyed. The Republican Party of South Carolina was established during this time and controlled the politics of South Carolina throughout this period. When Reconstruction finally ended in 1877, however, white Democrats led by Wade Hampton took back control of the South Carolina government and dominated the political landscape for decades after. Thus, the formerly Confederate states had evolved into Republican states during Reconstruction only to form the Solid South dominated by the Democratic party once the Reconstruction Era of the United States ended. The control possessed by the Democratic party left the South Carolina Republican Party with very little influence within the state for generations after. This control would last until the second half of the twentieth century.[4]
A milestone for the party was September 16, 1964, when Senator Strom Thurmond announced to a statewide television audience that he had switched parties from the Democrats to the Republicans, saying the Democratic "party of our fathers is dead"[5] and had "forsaken the people to become the party of minority groups, power-hungry union leaders, political bosses, and businessmen looking for government contracts and favors".[6] This statement sparked a shift from the solidly Democratic southern United States towards an equally solid Republican party support base within the region. Ten years later, James B. Edwards was elected as the first Republican governor of South Carolina since Reconstruction and the majority of the elected government officials in the years since have also been part of the Republican party.
The South Carolina Republicans co-sponsored with Fox News Channel its party's first presidential debate for the 2012 presidential election.[7] Party chair Karen Floyd noted "the Upstate of South Carolina has always played such a significant role in deciding the Republican nomination."[7] Participants included Herman Cain, Gary Johnson, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty, and Rick Santorum; notably absent are Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Mitch Daniels, and Mike Huckabee.[7] Due to press restrictions by the debate's sponsors, the Associated Press and Reuters announced they would not be covering the event.[8]
The South Carolina Republican Party controls all nine statewide offices and holds majorities in the South Carolina Senate and the South Carolina House of Representatives. Republicans also hold both of the state's U.S. Senate seats and five of the state's six U.S. House of Representatives seats.
In 2010, a Republican became the representative of South Carolina's 5th congressional district, the first Republican to represent that district since Robert Smalls, the party's co-founder, held the seat in 1883.
Members of CongressU.S. SenateU.S. House of Representatives |
Statewide offices
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State Legislature |
Strom Thurmond (December 5, 1902 – June 26, 2003) was a United States Senator from South Carolina from 1954 to 2003. He has held the records for longest senate career, oldest voting member of the Senate in history, the only Senator to reach 100 years of age while in office, the record for longest filibuster in senate history at 24 hours and 18 minutes, and the longest serving Dean of the United States Senate in United States history after maintaining the position for 14 years. [9]
John C. Calhoun (March 18, 1782- March 31, 1850) was born in South Carolina and held office both within the state and at the national level. He began his political career serving in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1808-1809. He was then elected as a Democratic-Republican to the United States House of Representatives and held the office from 1811 to 1817 at which point he resigned to become Secretary of War in the administration of President James Monroe from 1817-1825. During the election of 1824, he was chosen to be Vice President of the United States under President John Quincy Adams. Following this, in the election of 1828, Calhoun was again elected Vice President, this time under President Andrew Jackson. He held that position until his resignation in 1832. Following this resignation, he ran for and was elected to the United States Senate in 1832; he would be re-elected twice and then resign from the Senate in 1943. After this, Calhoun became the Secretary of State in the cabinet of President John Tyler from 1844-1845. In 1845, he was again elected to serve in the United States Senate, a position he held until his death in March of 1950.[10]
Robert Smalls (April 5, 1839- February 23, 1915) was an African-American slave in South Carolina that eventually became a free man, a war hero, and a politician. Born into slavery, Smalls was taken by his masters to Charleston, South Carolina in 1851 where he would work several different labor jobs. At the onset of the Civil War in 1861, Smalls was hired to work aboard a steamship named Planter which served as an armed transport for the Confederate Army carrying guns and ammunition. On May 13, 1862, he and other men aboard the "Planter" seized control of the ship and successfully turned it and its cargo over to the forces of the Union Army. This act brought great acclaim to Smalls and would eventually lead to him being named the first African-American captain of U. S. military vessel. These acts of heroics would foster a political career for Smalls who would serve in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1868 to 1870 and the South Carolina State Senate from 1870-1874. Following this, he was elected to three terms in the United State House of Representatives. Smalls would also be the last Republican to win South Carolina's 5th Congressional District until 2010.[11] Robert Smalls was also among the founders of the South Carolina Republican Party.[12]
The platform of the South Carolina Republican Party emphasizes a strict adherence to the United States Constitution. The platform is not meant to address each issue specifically but is aimed at outlining the principles upon which the Party is established.[13] The South Carolina Republican Party believes that following the principles of the platform, which include limiting the power of the federal government, protecting personal liberty, remaining true to the founding principles of the United States, and protecting families, can only have a beneficial effect on the state of South Carolina and the United States as a whole.[14]
The economic policy of the South Carolina Republican Party is founded on the principles of preserving liberty, freedom, and limited government while empowering individuals and businesses without government intervention. [15] The platform of the South Carolina Republican Party outlines several ways in which it seeks to implement such principles into policies. First, the Party wants to restructure the state government of South Carolina in order to improve efficiency and cut wasteful spending. The government would be restructured by removing Secretary of State, Adjutant General, Commissioner of Agriculture, Comptroller general state treasurer, and superintendent of education from election ballots and making those positions appointed by the governor. To further streamline government, South Carolina Republicans seek to put the governor and lieutenant governor onto one ballot and to get rid of the state's Budget and Control Board. [16] In an effort to cut state spending, they propose a measure to implement zero-based budget. Furthermore, they seek to deregulate the business sector in order to limit government interference and also to lessen the power available to worker's unions. Lastly, the Republican Party of South Carolina believes that eliminating the "death tax," cutting capital gains, and lowering personal and corporate income taxes would spur economic growth and development.[17]
The South Carolina Republican Party believes that national security is a vastly important issue in our modern world. The party believes that tragedies such as the events of September 11, 2001 and the USS Cole are evidence that Americans had been "lured into a false sense of security."[18] As such, in order for Americans to avoid similar attacks and protect themselves against the Islamic extremists worldwide that have made them targets of terrorism, the Party believes that the United States must invest in our military, both at home and abroad, to ensure that they have the best training and equipment available to protect the United States. In addition to this, the United States must work to strengthen the security of its borders in order to protect its citizens.[19]
The Republican Party of South Carolina believes that strong families are the backbone of the United States and, as such, it seeks to implement several policies designed to better American family life. Foremost to this is the protection of religious freedom in the United States, which includes the ability to pray or express religious beliefs at any time including inside of public schools.[20] In addition, the Republican Party of South Carolina believes that marriage should be defined as only between one man and one woman and because of this it opposes all civil unions and same-sex marriages in an effort to preserve the traditional family unit. Lastly, it advocates a right to life for all humans in America and oppose both the practices of euthanasia and abortion.[21]
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