Charleston SC Politics & Civic News — Page 5
Covering Charleston City Council, Charleston County Council, South Carolina General Assembly, and your federal representatives in Washington, D.C. Accountability journalism for Charleston County residents.
Charleston County sits inside one of the most layered governmental structures in the region. Residents answer to at least five levels of elected authority simultaneously: the federal government, statewide offices, Charleston County Council, Charleston City Council, and school district boards — each a separately elected body covering its own geographic slice of the county.
Charleston’s federal delegation includes US Rep. Nancy Mace (SC District 1) and US Rep. James Clyburn (SC District 6) and Senators Darline Graham and Tim Scott. In Columbia, Charleston is represented by Sens. Ed Sutton (District 20), Matthew W. "Matt" Leber (District 41), Lawrence K. "Larry" Grooms (District 37), Brian Adams (District 44), Margie Bright Matthews (District 45), George E. "Chip" Campsen III (District 43), and Deon T. Tedder (District 42) and Reps. Leonidas E. "Leon" Stavrinakis (District 119), Marvin "Mark" Smith (District 99), Elizabeth "Spencer" Wetmore (District 115), Gary S. Brewer, Jr. (District 114), Carl L. Anderson (District 103), Wendell G. Gilliard (District 111), James E. Teeple (District 116), and Thomas F. "Tom" Hartnett, Jr. (District 110).
Charleston County Council controls property tax millage, land-use zoning outside city limits, and fee-in-lieu-of-tax agreements. Downtown zoning decisions and the Charleston Police Department budget run through Charleston City Council. State funding for schools, roads, and Medicaid flows from the South Carolina General Assembly. The Charleston County Elections and Voter Registration Office administers local balloting under SC Election Commission oversight.
HERE Charleston covers Charleston County Council meetings, Charleston City Council sessions, South Carolina General Assembly session, federal delegation votes and town halls, school board meetings, and candidate filing windows. We also pull FOIA-sourced travel records and contracts at both the city and county level. If it shapes how Charleston County is governed, it’s HERE.
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Charleston is in Charleston County, South Carolina. Mayor: William S. Cogswell Jr.; Mayor Pro Tem: Karl L. Brady Jr..
Latest Charleston Politics News — Page 5
Charleston Southern edges Citadel 26-20 in double-OT Boil Bowl
Charleston Southern captured the Lowcountry Boil Bowl for the first time in program history Saturday night, edging The Citadel 26-20 in double overtime at Johnson Hagood Stadium. Running…
SC September fishing outlook: coast heats up, lakes turn
September marks the swing month for South Carolina anglers, when the water begins to cool from its late-summer peak, bait clouds concentrate in the creeks and lakes, and…
SC shrimp baiting season opens with 60-day window
South Carolina’s recreational shrimp baiting season opened at noon Friday, Sept. 11, giving licensed shrimpers along the entire coast — from Beaufort County waters up to the Grand…
16,000 US seniors named 2027 National Merit semifinalists
More than 16,000 high school seniors across the United States have been named semifinalists in the 2027 National Merit Scholarship Program, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced this…
NYC opens free 2-K, bans classroom AI through grade 8
New York City opened its first day of the 2026-2027 school year Thursday with the launch of a free public program for two-year-olds, a one-year moratorium on generative…
Citadel hosts Charleston Southern in in-town football rivalry
The Citadel opens its home football schedule Saturday against crosstown Charleston Southern, a 6:00 p.m. kickoff at Johnson Hagood Stadium that Charleston Southern’s 2026 schedule bills as the…
Lowcountry marks 25 years of 9/11 with climbs, ceremonies
Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11 attacks, Lowcountry ceremonies stretch from Mount Pleasant to Summerville on Friday, pairing stair climbs at two Charleston-area stadiums with wreaths, bell tolls…
Joe Rice Funeral Set for Sept. 14 at Charleston Gaillard Center
A funeral service for Charleston attorney Joseph F. Rice, known widely as Joe Rice, the nationally known plaintiffs’ lawyer who died suddenly at his Mount Pleasant office Sept.…
Greystar-PGIM Open Lowcountry Logistics I in N. Charleston
Greystar and PGIM have completed the first building at their Lowcountry Logistics Center in North Charleston and broken ground on two additional rear-load industrial facilities at the same…
MIT trains college faculty to teach AI in class
The MIT Schwarzman College of Computing has launched a summer training program that brings college faculty from around the country to Cambridge to learn how to teach foundational…
Charleston revisits its 2021 First Amendment demo ordinance
Charleston officials are taking a fresh look at the city’s First Amendment demonstration ordinance amid growing community concern, with two freshman council members publicly calling for a review…
Florida man charged in Summerville Cambridge Apts. shooting
A Florida man is in custody in Dorchester County after an early-morning shooting at a Summerville apartment complex left one person injured and prompted a hospital-side lifesaving effort…
