The Palmetto State is among the worst in the nation when it comes to women and minorities holding public office, according to the Southeastern Institute for Women in Politics.
Many hope wins by gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley and congressional candidate Tim Scott will open the door to other women and minorities.
Horry County Council Chair Liz Gilland said, "We are really at a lousy place because there are not nearly enough women - well, there are hardly any women involved in the political process."
The Palmetto State ranks dead last in the nation in terms of women holding public office. Only three women have ever been elected to a statewide office. There are currently no women in the state Senate.
9 of the state's 46 senators are African-American. 17 out of 124 house members are women, and 30 out of 124 are African-Americans.
Gilland has been a minority in South Carolina politics for nearly 20 years. "It's an old boys club, and they don't particularly care for - it's like boys with the tree house and the no girls allowed sign. There's still a lot of that unfortunately."
So why aren't women getting elected? Barbara Rackes, with the Southeastern Institute for Women in Politics said, "Women are not running for office in the numbers that we need them to. In some cases it's because they've been warned off - it's not a woman's role. In other cases women tend to second guess themselves - you know, I'm not smart enough, I'm not rich enough, I have skeletons in my closet. And that is the first obstacle that we need to get over."
Coastal Carolina University political expert Eddie Dyer agreed, and said, "I think gender and color are becoming less important than what comes out of your mouth as a political candidate."
Some experts suggest that could be why Nikki Haley, who hopes to become the state's first woman governor, and Tim Scott, who hopes to become the state's first black Republican to serve in Congress in more than a century, have had the success they have.
Race and gender rarely seem to be a part of their discourse, a trend many hope sticks.
The irony of Haley and Scott victories in November would be that their departures from the state legislature would leave the SC House and Senate even less diverse than they are now.
