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South Carolina State Senate District 32

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South Carolina State Senate District 32
Incumbent
Assumed office: 2014

South Carolina State Senate District 32 is represented by Ronnie Sabb (D).

As of the 2020 Census, South Carolina state senators represented an average of 111,407 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented 100,999 residents.

About the chamber

Members of the South Carolina State Senate serve four-year terms and are not subject to term limits. South Carolina legislators assume office the Monday after the election.[1]

Qualifications

See also: State legislature candidate requirements by state

To be eligible to serve in the South Carolina State Senate a candidate must be:[2]

  • A U.S. citizen at the time of filing
  • A registered voter
  • 25 years old at the filing deadline time
  • A resident of the district at the filing deadline time
  • Not have been convicted of a felony or offense against election laws unless it has been 15 years since the completion of the sentence for the crime or unless the person has been pardoned


Salaries

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries
State legislative salaries, 2025[3]
SalaryPer diem
$10,400/year$240.07/day

Vacancies

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures

If there is a vacancy in the South Carolina Legislature, the presiding officer of the chamber in which the vacancy happens must call for a special election. If candidates plan to seek the nomination through a political party primary or a political party convention, the filing period begins on the third Friday after the vacancy occurs. The qualifying deadline is eight days after the filing period opens.[4]

If a candidate plans to seek the nomination via petition, all signatures must be submitted to the appropriate filing officer no later than 60 days before the election. All signatures must be verified by the filing officer no later than 45 days before the election.[5]

A primary election must be held on the eleventh Tuesday after the vacancy occurs. If necessary, a primary runoff must be held on the thirteenth Tuesday after the vacancy occurs. The special election is held on the twentieth Tuesday after the vacancy occurs. If the twentieth Tuesday after the vacancy occurs is less than 60 days prior to the general election, the special election must be held on the same day as the general election.[5][6]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: South Carolina Const. Art. III, § 25 and South Carolina Code Ann. § 7-13-190


District map

Redistricting

2020 redistricting cycle

See also: Redistricting in South Carolina after the 2020 census

South Carolina enacted new state legislative district maps on December 10, 2021, when Gov. McMaster signed a proposal approved by the South Carolina House and Senate into law. The South Carolina Senate approved House and Senate map proposals in a 43-1 vote on December 7, 2021, and the House approved the new districts in a 75-27 vote on December 9, 2021. Gov. McMaster signed the bill into law the next day.[7]
The House maps were updated on June 28, 2022, by Senate Bill 1024. The updated maps became effective for the 2024 elections.[8][9]

How does redistricting in South Carolina work? In South Carolina, congressional and state legislative district boundaries are drawn by the state legislature. These lines are subject to veto by the governor.[10]

South Carolina's legislative redistricting committees adopted redistricting guidelines in 2011. These guidelines recommend that all congressional and state legislative districts be contiguous and "attempt to preserve communities of interest and cores of incumbents' existing districts." Further, the guidelines suggest that districts should "adhere to county, municipal, and voting precinct boundary lines." These guidelines may modified by the legislature at its discretion.[10]

South Carolina State Senate District 32
until November 10, 2024

Click a district to compare boundaries.

South Carolina State Senate District 32
starting November 11, 2024

Click a district to compare boundaries.

Elections

2024

See also: South Carolina State Senate elections, 2024

General election

General election for South Carolina State Senate District 32

Incumbent Ronnie Sabb won election in the general election for South Carolina State Senate District 32 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Ronnie Sabb
Ronnie Sabb (D)
 
98.2
 
31,477
 Other/Write-in votes
 
1.8
 
571

Total votes: 32,048
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for South Carolina State Senate District 32

Incumbent Ronnie Sabb defeated Prinscillia Sumpter in the Democratic primary for South Carolina State Senate District 32 on June 11, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Ronnie Sabb
Ronnie Sabb
 
76.2
 
5,741
Image of Prinscillia Sumpter
Prinscillia Sumpter Candidate Connection
 
23.8
 
1,797

Total votes: 7,538
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2020

See also: South Carolina State Senate elections, 2020

General election

General election for South Carolina State Senate District 32

Incumbent Ronnie Sabb defeated David Ellison in the general election for South Carolina State Senate District 32 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Ronnie Sabb
Ronnie Sabb (D)
 
60.6
 
27,284
Image of David Ellison
David Ellison (R) Candidate Connection
 
39.3
 
17,714
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1
 
54

Total votes: 45,052
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for South Carolina State Senate District 32

Incumbent Ronnie Sabb defeated Ted Brown, Kelly Spann Jr., and Manley Collins in the Democratic primary for South Carolina State Senate District 32 on June 9, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Ronnie Sabb
Ronnie Sabb
 
71.2
 
9,508
Ted Brown
 
15.9
 
2,128
Kelly Spann Jr.
 
11.0
 
1,475
Image of Manley Collins
Manley Collins
 
1.8
 
239

Total votes: 13,350
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. David Ellison advanced from the Republican primary for South Carolina State Senate District 32.

2016

See also: South Carolina State Senate elections, 2016

Elections for the South Carolina State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election took place on June 14, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The primary runoff election was held on June 28, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was March 30, 2016.

Incumbent Ronnie Sabb ran unopposed in the South Carolina State Senate District 32 general election.[11][12]

South Carolina State Senate, District 32 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Ronnie Sabb Incumbent (unopposed) 100.00% 31,164
Total Votes 31,164
Source: South Carolina State Election Commission


Incumbent Ronnie Sabb ran unopposed in the South Carolina State Senate District 32 Democratic primary.[13][14]

South Carolina State Senate, District 32 Democratic Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Ronnie Sabb Incumbent (unopposed)


2014

See also: South Carolina state legislative special elections, 2014

Carl Anderson, Ronnie Sabb, Cezar McKnight and Sam L. Floyd faced off in the September 2 Democratic primary. Because no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two vote-getters - Floyd and Sabb - met in a runoff election on September 16, which Sabb won.[15][16][17] Because no Republican candidate filed to run, the Democratic nominee won election by default.[18]

The seat was vacant following John McGill's (D) appointment as Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina.[19]

A special election for the position of South Carolina State Senate District 32 was initially called for November 4, concurrent with the 2014 state house elections. A primary election took place on September 2, 2014. Because only Democratic candidates filed to run, the primary instead served as the general election. The filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was July 14.[18]

South Carolina State Senate, District 32, Special Election Runoff, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngRonnie Sabb 58.8% 9,648
     Democratic Sam L. Floyd 41.2% 6,774
Total Votes 16,422
South Carolina State Senate, District 32, Special Election, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngSam L. Floyd 32.3% 4,602
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngRonnie Sabb 24.5% 3,485
     Democratic Cezar McKnight 24.2% 3,448
     Democratic Carl Anderson 19% 2,710
Total Votes 14,245

2012

See also: South Carolina State Senate elections, 2012

Elections for the office of South Carolina State Senate consisted of a primary election on June 12, 2012, and a general election on November 6, 2012. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 30, 2012. Incumbent J. Yancey McGill (D) was unopposed in the general election and defeated Cezar McKnight in the Democratic primary.[20][21]

South Carolina State Senate, District 32, General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngJohn Yancey McGill Incumbent 96.7% 34,985
     Other Write-Ins 3.3% 1,177
Total Votes 36,162
South Carolina State Senate District 32 Democratic Primary, 2012
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngJohn Yancey McGill Incumbent 50.3% 6,375
Cezar E McKnight 49.7% 6,294
Total Votes 12,669

Campaign contributions

From 2000 to 2024, candidates for South Carolina State Senate District 32 raised a total of $1,228,709. Candidates who raised money in contributions earned $64,669 on average. All figures come from Follow the Money

Campaign contributions, South Carolina State Senate District 32
Year Amount Candidates Average
2024 $165,026 2 $82,513
2020 $199,257 4 $49,814
2016 $31,345 1 $31,345
2012 $240,089 2 $120,045
2010 $55,350 1 $55,350
2008 $261,936 3 $87,312
2006 $40,500 1 $40,500
2004 $107,776 2 $53,888
2002 $24,825 1 $24,825
2000 $102,605 2 $51,303
Total $1,228,709 19 $64,669



Other election results in district

The map below highlight's this state legislative district and provides election results from the most recent election. Using the dropdown on the left, you can choose to view results for the most recent presidential election or U.S. House district election instead. This will show you the votes cast in this district for that election. The dropdown on the right will let you see either the map colored by the percentage of votes the winning candidate received or let you know the number and type of votes cast by size and shade of the circle in each county.

Ballotpedia Embed

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. South Carolina Legislature, "Article III - Legislative Department," accessed October 4, 2021
  2. South Carolina Election Commission, "Candidates," accessed May 23, 2025
  3. National Conference of State Legislatures, "2025 Legislator Compensation," December 2, 2025
  4. South Carolina State Legislature, "South Carolina Code," accessed February 17, 2021 (Statute 7-13-190 (A)-(B))
  5. 5.0 5.1 South Carolina State Legislature, "South Carolina Code," accessed February 17, 2021 (Statute 7-13-190 (B))
  6. South Carolina State Legislature, "South Carolina Constitution," accessed February 17, 2021 (Article 3, Section 25)
  7. LegiScan, "South Carolina House Bill 4493," accessed December 14, 2021
  8. South Carolina Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office, "SC General Assembly," accessed March 17, 2025
  9. LegiScan, "South Carolina Senate Bill 1024," accessed March 17, 2025
  10. 10.0 10.1 All About Redistricting, "South Carolina," accessed May 8, 2015
  11. South Carolina State Election Commission, "Candidate listing for the 11/8/2016 statewide general election," accessed August 26, 2016
  12. South Carolina State Election Commission, "2016 Statewide General Election," accessed November 28, 2016
  13. South Carolina Election Commission, "Candidate Tracking," accessed March 31, 2016
  14. South Carolina State Election Commission, "Unofficial primary election results," accessed June 14, 2016
  15. South Carolina State Election Commission, "Democratic Primary Runoff Official Results," accessed December 31, 2014
  16. WBTW, "SC Senate Seat 32 will move to a runoff after Tuesday vote," September 2, 2014
  17. South Carolina State Election Commission, "Democratic Primary Official Results," accessed September 30, 2014
  18. 18.0 18.1 The State, "Georgetown's Carl Anderson seeks state senate seat in special election," July 17, 2014
  19. Greenfield Reporter, "Correction: McGill-Special Election story," June 20, 2014
  20. "South Carolina State Election Commission - Official General Election Results," accessed October 29, 2013
  21. "South Carolina State Election Commission - Official Primary Results," accessed October 29, 2013


Current members of the South Carolina State Senate
Leadership
Senate President:Thomas Alexander
Majority Leader:Shane Massey
Minority Leader:Brad Hutto
Senators
District 1
District 2
Rex Rice (R)
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
Vacant
District 13
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
District 18
District 19
District 20
Ed Sutton (D)
District 21
District 22
District 23
District 24
Tom Young (R)
District 25
District 26
District 27
District 28
District 29
District 30
District 31
District 32
District 33
District 34
District 35
District 36
District 37
District 38
District 39
District 40
District 41
District 42
District 43
District 44
District 45
District 46
Tom Davis (R)
Republican Party (33)
Democratic Party (12)
Vacancies (1)