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COLUMBIA, S.C. — Who’s in charge at the South Carolina State House has major implications for what legislation is enacted and how it affects South Carolinians’ everyday lives.

Republicans have held control in Columbia for decades now and aren’t in danger of losing it anytime soon.

But Tuesday’s primary election results could impact how exactly that GOP majority governs.

For the last two years, fights between the larger House Republican Caucus and the smaller conservative group known as the Freedom Caucus have disrupted debates, caused chaos, and at times, brought work to a grinding halt in the House of Representatives.

Tuesday’s primary results indicate that fight will be here to stay at the State House for at least the next two years.

“With Tuesday’s results, I’m hoping that the RINOs [Republicans in Name Only] in this chamber realize that the writing’s on the wall and they’ll get behind the Freedom Caucus agenda and the agenda of the people of South Carolina,” Rep. RJ May, R – Lexington and vice chair of the Freedom Caucus, said.

On Tuesday, three Republican incumbents lost their primaries to conservative challengers, including two in leadership: Assistant Majority Leader Jay West, R – Anderson, and Labor, Commerce, and Industry Committee Chair Bill Sandifer, R – Oconee.

May said his group also held on or is poised to hold on to the seats of the current Freedom Caucus members who did not seek re-election in the South Carolina House.

But for the most part, Republican incumbents in general won their primaries Tuesday, so there wasn’t a major shift either way toward the House Republican Caucus or the Freedom Caucus, though both targeted the others’ members.

“What we tend to see in situations like this is incumbents have enough of a foothold to be able to maintain their seats,” South Carolina Republican strategist Dave Wilson said.

Public, intra-Republican squabbles have generally been confined to the larger House of Representatives, while GOP leadership in the smaller Senate has worked to keep infighting to a minimum and behind closed doors.

While the Senate’s membership could become more conservative next year, especially with the loss of at least two female Republican senators, Wilson does not expect a Freedom Caucus to emerge in the upper chamber at this point.

“The way that the South Carolina Senate is structured, and the way that the leadership is operating, I don’t think the Freedom Caucus has the ability to really start taking root in the Senate yet,” Wilson said.

Meanwhile, Gov. Henry McMaster got involved in Republican primaries in the legislature for the first time as governor, endorsing incumbent House Republican Caucus members, including two who lost their seats, as well as backing some challengers to sitting Freedom Caucus members, none of whom were successful in knocking them off.

“Governor McMaster had a successful night and is proud to have played his part in returning proven conservatives to Congress, the State Senate and House, and local office,” Brandon Charochak, a spokesman for the governor, said. “The governor has had a historically successful working relationship with the General Assembly, and Tuesday’s returns show no indication that this will change.”

We reached out to the Republican Speaker of the House Murrell Smith but were told he was not available this week for an interview on primary results.

Of course, the question of whether Republican or Democrats will flip any seats at the State House this year won’t be settled until November.

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