# Russell Ott

Russell Ott is a Democratic member of the South Carolina Senate for district 26.

- Party: Democrat
- Seat: South Carolina Senate, district 26
- Serving since: 2013-10-29
- Current term: SC 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/458d191f-6584-4548-b464-a3a24cda3cf3

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/458d191f-6584-4548-b464-a3a24cda3cf3 (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set].

## Headline

Ott sits at −0.31 on the CSIP scale, more conservative than 91% of State Senate Democrats.

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score −0.31 (standard error 0.01), from 429 donors and 1,039 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 91% of State Senate Democrats score lower.

## Votes (SC 2025–26 session)

688 roll calls. Attendance 97.5% (South Carolina Senate 92.7%). Party unity 87% (84%). 16 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2026-06-25 · voted yea · to adopt the conference report · H 4709 US produced iron and steel · pass · https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/H4709/
- 2026-06-25 · voted yea · to adopt the conference report · H 4635 Physical Fitness Services · pass · https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/H4635/
- 2026-06-25 · voted yea · to adopt the conference report · H 3387 Unlawful occupants of property · pass · https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/H3387/
- 2026-06-25 · voted yea · to adopt the conference report · H 4069 Patient-Friendly Billing · pass · https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/H4069/
- 2026-06-25 · voted yea · to adopt the conference report · H 3021 Small Business Regulatory Freedom Act · pass · https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/H3021/
- 2026-06-25 · voted yea · to override the veto · S 238 Sine Die · pass · https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/S238/
- 2026-06-25 · voted yea · to concur · S 1043 Civil Air Patrol Leave Act · pass · https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/S1043/
- 2026-06-25 · voted yea · to grant free conference powers · H 4763 Helping Alleviate Lawful Obstruction (HALO) Act · pass · https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/H4763/
- 2026-06-25 · voted yea · to adopt the conference report · H 4248 Food labeling · pass · https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/H4248/
- 2026-06-25 · voted yea · 2nd Reading · H 4300 Retirement System for Judges and Solicitors · pass · https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/H4300/

## Legislation (SC 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 125 bills: 125 reached committee, 90 passed one chamber, 20 passed both, 7 became law. Cosponsored 0. 72.0% of sponsored bills got out of committee (South Carolina Senate 73.4%; rank 26 of 46).

Recent sponsored bills:

- S 1199: Chief Paul Shirer Retirement (passed one chamber, 2026-05-21) https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/S1199/
- S 1197: Calhoun Academy Champions (passed one chamber, 2026-05-14) https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/S1197/
- S 1198: Ebony Young (passed one chamber, 2026-05-18) https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/S1198/
- S 1191: Level Up Elevate SC Day (passed one chamber, 2026-05-13) https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/S1191/
- S 1190: Lung Cancer Awareness Month (passed both chambers, 2026-05-13) https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/S1190/
- S 1187: EMS Week in SC (passed both chambers, 2026-05-13) https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/S1187/
- S 1182: Brantley Lombr (passed both chambers, 2026-05-07) https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/S1182/
- S 1169: Marion Anderson (passed one chamber, 2026-04-30) https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/S1169/
- S 1155: Dylan Carter (passed one chamber, 2026-04-29) https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/S1155/
- S 1146: James Denny (passed one chamber, 2026-04-28) https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/S1146/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $47.8K (State Senate Democrats median $55.5K). 76% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Links

- Official site: https://www.scstatehouse.gov/member.php?code=1433096420
- Campaign site: https://ottforsenate.com/
- X: https://x.com/repwrussellott
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089803807209
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/russell.ott.14
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reprussellott/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@OttforSenate

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/458d191f-6584-4548-b464-a3a24cda3cf3