Incumbent governor Henry McMaster, as well as senators Tim Scott and Lindsey Graham, are members of the Republican party.

Graham has served since January 3, 2003, having been elected in 2002 and re-elected in 2008, 2014, and 2020; Tim Scott was appointed in 2013 by then-governor Nikki Haley, who is also a Republican.

[1] 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.

Northern Republicans and freed slaves came to control the politics of South Carolina during this era, as Confederates were temporarily disenfranchised.

Democrats mounted increasing violence and fraud at elections from 1868 through the period, in an effort to suppress the black and Republican vote.

The exclusion of freedmen and their descendants from the political system resulted in the South Carolina Republican Party with very little influence within the state for generations after.

The Act, passed with the support of Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson, ended legal segregation in public accommodations.

"[5] He said it 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".

Since the late 20th century, South Carolina's voters have increasingly supported Republican candidates for local, state and national offices.

South Carolina's January 21, 2012 Republican Presidential Preference Primary was the party's then-largest ever, drawing more than 600,000 voters.

In 2012, Republican Tom Rice became the representative of South Carolina's 7th congressional district, newly re-established because of population gains.