# Margie Bright Matthews Margie Bright Matthews is a Democratic member of the South Carolina Senate for district 45. - Party: Democrat - Seat: South Carolina Senate, district 45 - Serving since: 2015-10-27 - Current term: SC 2025–26 session - Open States ID: ocd-person/829bd3ab-d117-43fd-b274-f9ff8177c789 Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/829bd3ab-d117-43fd-b274-f9ff8177c789 (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 86% of the 93 bills Matthews sponsored got out of committee, in the top tenth of the South Carolina Senate. ## What Matthews says (SC 2025–26 session) 4 classified statements: 4 posts on X. Each rate is the share of statements with the label, against the State Senate Democrats average; rank 1 is the highest rate. | Label | Matthews | State Senate Democrats average | Rank | |---|---|---|---| | Personal attacks | 0.0% | 2.4% | 249 of 330 | | Policy criticism | 25.0% | 10.3% | 29 of 330 | | Policy discussion | 75.0% | 42.9% | 11 of 330 | | Bipartisanship | 0.0% | 3.4% | 294 of 330 | | Credit claiming | 0.0% | 16.1% | 322 of 330 | | Extreme labels | 0.0% | 0.8% | 228 of 330 | Most discussed policy areas: Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues 100% (State Senate Democrats 8.4%); Crime and Law Enforcement 33% (State Senate Democrats 8.4%); Agriculture and Food 0% (State Senate Democrats 4.7%); Armed Forces and National Security 0% (State Senate Democrats 3.5%); Commerce 0% (State Senate Democrats 3.6%). ## Ideology (CSIP) CSIP score −0.82 (standard error 0.03), from 177 donors and 804 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 26% of State Senate Democrats score lower. ## Votes (SC 2025–26 session) 692 roll calls. Attendance 83% (South Carolina Senate 92.7%). Party unity 97.1% (84%). 117 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 nay · to grant free conference powers · S 52 Driving under the influence · fail · https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/S52/ - 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 nay · 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/ ## Legislation (SC 2025–26 session) Sponsored 93 bills: 90 reached committee, 80 passed one chamber, 20 passed both, 2 became law. Cosponsored 0. 86.0% of sponsored bills got out of committee (South Carolina Senate 73.4%; rank 4 of 46). Recent sponsored bills: - S 1217: Deziree Hodge Birthday (passed one chamber, 2026-08-11) https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/S1217/ - 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 1135: Jannie L. Vinson Brabham (passed one chamber, 2026-04-21) https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/S1135/ - S 1133: Lonnie Hosey Purple Heart Highway (passed both chambers, 2026-05-07) https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/S1133/ - S 1134: Mt. Nebo Church (passed one chamber, 2026-04-21) https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/S1134/ - S 1129: Donate Life Month (passed one chamber, 2026-04-16) https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/S1129/ - S 1121: Colonel Claude Davis (passed one chamber, 2026-04-14) https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/S1121/ - S 1085: Columbia Garden Club (passed one chamber, 2026-03-31) https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/S1085/ - S 1088: Pineview 6U rookie ball All-Star champs (passed one chamber, 2026-03-31) https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/S1088/ ## Campaign money (2026 cycle) Itemized receipts $3,485 (State Senate Democrats median $55.5K). 100% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors. ## Recent statements Newest first. Posts on X are listed by date and link only. - 2026-10-06 · Post on X · https://x.com/margieBmatthews SenMBMatthews/status/2107528686375473347 - 2026-05-03 · Post on X · labels: policy criticism, policy discussion · https://x.com/margieBmatthews SenMBMatthews/status/2050928373057093772 - 2026-02-01 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/margieBmatthews SenMBMatthews/status/2018041977497924028 - 2026-01-28 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/margieBmatthews SenMBMatthews/status/2016586912979390831 ## Links - Official site: https://www.scstatehouse.gov/member.php?code=0194318159 - Campaign site: https://www.margiebrightmatthewsforsenate.com/ - X: https://x.com/margieBmatthews - X: https://x.com/SenMBMatthews - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/senatorbrightmatthews - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/margiebright.matthews - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matthewsmargiebright/ - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/senatorbrightmatthews/ - TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@margiebrightmatthews - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margiebrightmatthewsforsenate/ - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margie-matthews-679a4382/ Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/829bd3ab-d117-43fd-b274-f9ff8177c789