As an English/British colony, the Province of South Carolina had no lieutenant governors when it was governed under proprietary rule.

For 25 of the 56 years in which South Carolina was administered under the British Crown, the lieutenant governor acted as its chief executive.

[2] In 1776, South Carolina's Provincial Congress adopted a constitution for the colony to be abided by "until an accommodation of the unhappy differences between Great Britain and America can be obtained."

[6] The election changes went into effect with new legislation in 2018, which state legislators said would enable more partisan cohesiveness and cooperation between the governor and lieutenant governor and make the latter office more analogous to the United States vice presidency.

[6] Alonzo J. Ransier, elected lieutenant governor in 1870, was the first black person to hold the office in the state.

[7] Due its lack of formal responsibilities, the political role of the position is greatly influenced by the preferences of the concurrently-serving governor.