SOUTH CAROLINA, USA — On Tuesday night, political newcomer Carlisle Kennedy upset longtime Lexington County Senator Katrina Shealy, causing significant changes in the South Carolina Senate.

This election result means that only one of the five “sister senators” who voted together against the ban on abortion in the sixth week of pregnancy will remain in the Senate.

The “sister senators” made their names known in May 2023 when they launched a filibuster against the bill that would make abortions after the sixth week illegal.

Now only Margie Bright Matthews will return for the next session. Sandy Senn, Penry Gustafson and Katrina Shealy lost their seats, while Mia McLeod did not run for re-election.

With these changes, there are now only two female senators in the South Carolina Senate: Margie Bright Matthews and Tameika Isaac Devine.

“The defeat of three Republican women in this year’s primary is devastating for our state,” said Senator Penry Gustafson, who is spending her final days in the State House after being voted out of office by voters.

“If there is no one who is committed to a particular cause, to a particular group of people – we are talking about more than half the population of our entire state – then that is not good for us, it is not going to do us any good,” Gustafson said.

Chase Meyer, a political scientist at the University of South Carolina, sees this as a significant development for the future of women's issues in the state. “If anything, this is a big warning signal for all Republicans who want to know where they should stand on abortion rights,” said Meyer.

“Before these primaries, only 15 percent of our state's representatives were female – that's the lowest point. Only Mississippi, Tennessee and West Virginia did worse,” Meyer said.

Gustafson stressed the impact Shealy's defeat would have on the seniority of the Senate and representation of women's issues. “It will be at least 15 years before a woman can serve as committee chair, let alone if it's the right woman.”

Senator Tameika Isaac Devine, who will be one of two women in the Senate next session, expressed her determination to continue the fight for women's rights.

“It's important that we raise our voices because we bring a unique perspective. But I don't want people to think that just because we're women, it's always going to be a women's issue,” Isaac Devine said. “Women's issues are family issues, family issues are community issues, and community issues are SC issues. For me, it's more of a rallying cry and a spur to keep fighting and be vocal about the issues that we bring forward because there are fewer of us who can address these issues.”

Meyer explained that those who vote in primaries and runoffs are typically the most engaged and informed voters, but also the most ideologically extreme, meaning that abortion is likely the most important issue.

“These women were targeted, and they were targeted across the board, period. They were targeted because they came here and fought for their values. They weren't thinking about the party, they were thinking about the people, and we were elected to represent the people,” Isaac Devine said. “Whether you're a Republican or a Democrat, you know we're here to represent the people, and these women did that, and they were targeted and taken out.”