Speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives

The speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the South Carolina House of Representatives, whose main role is to ensure that general order is maintained in the house by recognizing members to speak, ensuring members are following established rules, and to call for votes. The speaker is third in the line of succession behind the lieutenant governor and the president of the senate. The current speaker is Murrell Smith, Jr., a Republican who has held the position since May 12, 2022.

Speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives
Incumbent Murrell Smith, Jr. since May 12, 2022
Member of	South Carolina House of Representatives
Nominator	Election by House
Term length	4 years, 5-term limit
Inaugural holder	James Parsons
Formation	1776
Salary	$33,400 + $140 per diem

History

James Parsons was the first speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives, elected in 1776 after the adoption of South Carolina's first constitution. Since 1776, there have been sixty-one speakers of the house. Four speakers have served non-consecutive terms, but unlike the office of governor where each office holder is counted once regardless of terms served, speakers are counted separately for each time in office. Therefore, for example, Solomon Blatt Sr. was the 50th and the 53rd speaker.

Election

The speaker is elected by a simple majority vote to a four-year term following the most recent general election and may not serve more than five consecutive terms. Incumbent Speaker Murrell Smith was elected intra-term in 2022 following the resignation of Jay Lucas. Since 1776, there have been 34 Democrats, 9 Democratic-Republicans, 8 Republicans, 8 Independents, and 2 Nullifiers. The speaker pro tempore presides in the speaker's absence.

Roles and responsibilities

The speaker of the house "preserve[s] order and decorum" in the chamber and oversees the proceeding of the House of Representatives by recognizing members to speak, calling for votes, and maintaining general order. The speaker also serves an ex officio member of the Committee on Operations and Managementof the House of Representatives. Additionally, the speaker of the house has the ability to do the following:

• Call for a special election after an inter-term vacancy in the senate
• Appoint members all committees, but must ensure that both the majority and minority parties are represented
• Adjourn the house without a vote in cases of emergency
• If a quorum is not present, the speaker may order absent members to be taken into custody and brought into the house chamber.

Succession to governorship

The speaker of the house is third in the gubernatorial line of succession. If the governor, lieutenant governor, and President of the South Carolina Senate are unable to serve as governor, the speaker of the house becomes governor. Since the role of lieutenant governor was separated from president of the senate, no president has succeeded to the office of governor.

List of speakers

List of speakers of the South Carolina House of Representatives

#	Speaker	Party		Term of office	Notes
1	James Parsons		None	March 26, 1776 – October 1776
2	John Matthews		None	December 1776 – Spring of 1777
3	Thomas Bee		None	Summer of 1777 – November 1778
4	John Matthews		None	January 1779 – December 1779	2nd Time
5	Thomas Farr		None	1779 – 1782
6	Hugh Rutledge		None	1782 – 1785
7	John Faucheraud Grimké		None	1785 – 1787
8	John Julius Pringle		Federalist	1787 – 1789
9	Jacob Read		Federalist	1789 – 1795
10	Robert Barnwell		Federalist	1795 – 1798
11	William Johnson		Democratic-Republican	1798 – 1800
12	Theodore Gaillard		Democratic-Republican	1800 – 1802
13	Robert Stork		Democratic-Republican	1802 – 1804
14	William Cotesworth Pinckney		Democratic-Republican	1804 – 1805
15	Joseph Alston		Democratic-Republican	1805 – 1810
16	John Geddes		Democratic-Republican	1810 – 1814
17	Thomas Bennett Jr.		Democratic-Republican	1814 – 1818
18	Patrick Noble		Democratic-Republican	1818 – 1824
19	John Belton O'Neall		Democratic-Republican	1824 – 1828
20	Benjamin Fanuel Dunkin		Nullifier (Democratic)	1828 – 1830
21	Henry L. Pinckney		Nullifier (Democratic)	1830 – 1833
22	Patrick Noble		Democratic	1833 – 1836	2nd time Changed parties
23	David Lewis Wardlaw		Democratic	1836 – 1842
24	William F. Colcock		Democratic	1842 – 1848
25	John Izard Middleton		Democratic	1848 – 1850
26	James Simons Sr.		Democratic	1850 – 1862
27	Alfred P. Aldrich		Democratic	1862 – 1864
28	R. B. Boyleston		Democratic	1864 – 1865	Deposed by Union Army
29	Charles Henry Simonton		None	1865 – 1868
30	Franklin J. Moses Jr.		Republican	1868 – 1872
31	Samuel Jones Lee		Republican	1872 – 1874
32	R. B. Elliot		Republican	1874 – 1876
33	William Henry Wallace		Democratic	1876 – 1876
34	John Calhoun Sheppard		Democratic	1877 – 1882
35	James Simons Jr.		Democratic	1882 – 1890
36	John L. M. Irby		Democratic	1890 – 1891
37	Ira B. Jones		Democratic	1891 – 1896
38	Frank B. Gary		Democratic	1896 – 1901
39	William Francis Stevenson		Democratic	1901 – 1903
40	Mendel L. Smith		Democratic	1903 – 1907
41	Richard S. Whaley		Democratic	1907 – 1911
42	Mendel L. Smith		Democratic	1911 – 1915	2nd Time
43	James Hoyt		Democratic	1915 – 1918
44	Thomas P. Cothran		Democratic	1918 – 1921
45	John Buford Atkinson		Democratic	1921 – 1923
46	Thomas S. McMillan		Democratic	1923 – 1925
47	Edgar Allan Brown		Democratic	1925 – 1926
48	John K. Hamblin		Democratic	1927 – 1933
49	James B. Gibson		Democratic	1933 – 1934	Died
50	Claude A. Taylor		Democratic	1935 – 1936
51	Solomon Blatt Sr.		Democratic	1935 – 1936
52	C. Bruce Littlejohn		Democratic	1947 – 1949
53	Thomas H. Pope		Democratic	1949 – 1950
54	Solomon Blatt Sr.		Democratic	1951 – August 1, 1973	2nd Time
55	Rex L. Carter		Democratic	1973 – August 1, 1980
56	Ramon Schwartz Jr.		Democratic	1981 – October 1, 1986
57	Robert Sheheen		Democratic	1987 – October 1, 1994
58	David Wilkins		Republican	December 6, 1994 – June 21, 2005
59	Bobby Harrell		Republican	June 21, 2005 – October 23, 2014
60	Jay Lucas		Republican	December 2, 2014 – May 12, 2022
61	Murrell Smith Jr.		Republican	May 12, 2022 – Incumbent

See also

• List of South Carolina state legislatures