Donald Long of Spartanburg, SC is co-owner of a Management Consulting Firm with his wife, Carolyn Long also of Spartanburg, SC. In the article below, Donald Long discusses South Carolina political news. Additional contributions in the article from Carolyn Long.
As one of the first colonized regions of the United States, South Carolina has a long history of political activity. Today, it's known as a conservative stronghold with pockets of liberal activism spotted across its urban centers. With upcoming mid-term elections just around the corner, South Carolina is expected to follow previous trends and vote overwhelmingly conservative says Donald Long of Spartanburg, SC.
At the time of writing, the South Carolinian government is comprised of a Republican trifecta. Below Donald Long of Spartanburg, SC discusses South Carolina's political history and current standing on the national stage.
A Brief History of South Carolinian Politics
The colony of South Carolina was first established as a proprietary colony in 1663, meaning that it was granted to a group of English Lords Proprietors who governed the colony according to their own laws. In the following years, South Carolina changed hands a few times before finally being ceded to the British crown in 1729 according to Donald Long of Spartanburg, SC.
After the American Revolution, South Carolina became one of the first 13 states to ratify the Constitution in 1788. Prior to the American Civil War, though, South Carolina was a proud slave state financed by large rice, indigo, and tobacco plantations. In fact, South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union and sparked the powder keg that led to the conflict says Donald Long of Spartanburg, SC.
After the Confederacy's defeat, the state was readmitted to the Union and, since the late 19th century, South Carolina has been a consistently conservative state. The state has voted for a Democratic presidential candidate only four times since 1876 and, in the last three decades, the state has trended even more conservative says Donald Long of Spartanburg, SC.
Since the mid-1980s, South Carolina has set a precedent for voting conservative with Republican presidential candidates winning by double-digit margins in 1988, 2000, 2008, 2012, and 2016. At the state level, South Carolina has had a Republican-controlled legislature since the early 1970s. The state has had a Republican governor for all but two years since 1995.
The Current State of South Carolinian Politics
Today, South Carolina carries on its historically conservative lineage with all three branches of government controlled by the Republican party explains Carolyn Long of Spartanburg, SC. The executive branch is headed by Governor Henry McMaster who, in 2017, replaced Nikki Haley after she was appointed as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations by President Donald Trump.
McMaster is up for re-election in 2022 and, as of June 2022, he is leading the polls with 67% of the vote. The legislative branch is controlled by the Republican Party with a supermajority in both the House and Senate. The state's congressional delegation is also majority Republican with only one of the state's seven representatives being Democrats explains Carolyn Long of Spartanburg, SC.
In terms of presidential elections, South Carolina has voted for the Republican candidate in every election since 1980 with the exception of 1992 and 1996. In 2016, Donald Trump won the state by a margin of 14.2%, and again in 2020 with a margin of 11.68%.
Given 2020's overwhelmingly conservative electoral result that unseated 3 Democratic congressmen, it's expected that the state will carry on the same results in the 2022 midterm elections. This comes as a staunch rebuttal of neighboring Georgia's shift towards the Democratic party after the state turned purple in 2020 says Donald Long of Spartanburg, SC.
The Future of Politics in South Carolina
Donald Long of Spartanburg, SC explains that much like other conservative states in the American South, South Carolina seems to be facing a growing trend toward liberalization in its urban centers. For example, both Charleston and Columbia voted Democratic in the last elections, signally a slow shift away from conservative politics. While it can be said that urban centers generally voted more liberal, Charleston was once a Republican citadel.
Carolyn Long of Spartanburg, SC notes that as two of the state's largest cities, Charleston and Columbia influence local culture, and, although they both trend young, their ability to affect more rural areas could slowly bleed South Carolina purple. This trend will take much longer than in neighboring Georgia and North Carolina but, as Millennials and Gen Z replace previous generations, the state could shift away from its conservative past explains Donald Long of Spartanburg, SC.
Final Thoughts on South Carolinian Politics
To sum it up, South Carolina has a long history of conservative politics dating back to the 18th century. The state has been a Republican stronghold for the past few decades with the party controlling all three branches of government. That being said, the state's urban areas are slowly but surely moving toward the left, signifying a potential shift in the state's political landscape in the coming years says Donald Long of Spartanburg, SC.
