by WILL FOLKS
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Fresh off of a stinging rebuke at the polls, the “Republican” caucus of the South Carolina House of Representatives – which just lost ten of its members as well as its “supermajority” status – must now choose a new leader.
Former majority leader Micah Caskey was one of the GOP candidates defeated on Tuesday (November 3, 2026), meaning House “Republicans” must pick a new majority leader before the 2027-2028 session of the S.C. General Assembly convenes in January. An avowed anti-conservative, Caskey was also chairman of the chamber’s rules committee and a member of its influential ways and means panel – which gets first crack at drafting the state budget each year.
The decision to replace him will not be down to all GOP members, though.
For the past four years, establishment “Republican” leaders led by House speaker Murrell Smith have ostracized more than a dozen-and-a-half conservative members of the S.C. Freedom Caucus – refusing to allow them to attend GOP meetings or vote on GOP leadership positions.
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RELATED | PANIC AT S.C. STATE HOUSE
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Caskey was one of the leading antagonists of the Freedom Caucus – as well as one of the ruling uni-party’s most reliable whips for status quo policy (and against pro-free market reforms). That means all the fiscal policy failures of the last few years – the underwhelming tax “relief,” refusal to provide emergency tax cuts, unsustainable government growth, unrestrained pork barrel spending and unaccountable crony capitalist debacles – fall at his feet.
Or rather fell at his feet…
The race to replace Caskey is already underway, with sources familiar with the deliberations telling FITSNews that state representatives Brandon Newton and Heath Sessions are currently among the top contenders for the job – along with state representative Nathan Ballentine and Travis Moore. State representative Jay Jordan was also listed as a potential candidate – but our sources indicate he is strongly considering campaigning for the S.C. Senate seat being vacated by lieutenant governor-elect Mike Reichenbach.
Newton, Sessions, Ballentine and Jordan have each been staunch supporters of the governing uni-party – and barring any post-election epiphanies, they would be expected to steer the caucus in much the same direction as it has gone.
Some have confided to us that Sessions is more inclined to chart a course responsive to Tuesday’s election results, although it’s unclear whether he would be able to win election without bending the knee to the party elite.
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What is clear? As of this writing, no prospective candidate appears to have an advantage…
“I don’t think anybody’s got the votes yet,” state representative Brandon Guffey told us this week, adding he and his fellow GOP members “will have to figure it out at a caucus meeting.”
“The election certainly showed everyone that no one is ever a shoe-in to return the following session,” Guffey added. “We have to earn our spots every two years.”
Lawmakers will gather in Columbia, S.C. during the first week of December for an organizational session ahead of the 2027-2028 legislative session – which begins in January. That organizational session will include the pre-filing of legislation, the election of chamber leaders and the posting of committee assignments.
Keep it tuned to FITSNews as we endeavor to determine whether the ruling Republican party in South Carolina has received the message voters sent it loud and clear earlier this week… or not.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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