Governor Henry McMaster

Henry Dargan McMaster of Columbia became the 117th Governor of South Carolina on January 24, 2017, following then – Governor Nikki Haley’s appointment as United States Ambassador to the United Nations and was elected to a full term as governor in November 2018 and re-elected in November 2022.

Governor McMaster has led a strong and vibrant South Carolina economy, announcing more than 93,000 new jobs with over $45.9 billion in new capital investment in the state.

Under his leadership, the state has made transformative investments in the classroom by expanding full day four-year-old kindergarten, raising K-12 teacher pay, and more than doubling the number of school resource officer in public schools. Colleges and universities are becoming more accessible and affordable due to the governor’s tuition freeze and by his doubling of funding for needs-based financial aid for in-state students.

He has cut taxes on our state’s small businesses by $317 million and has returned over $1 billion dollars to the taxpayers. The governor has kept the commitment to our state’s military veterans, first responders, law enforcement, firefighters, and peace officers – through pay increases, retention bonuses, and exemptions on retirement income exemption. The governor’s limited, measured, and temporary COVID-19 actions – coupled with freezing all new state government spending during the pandemic – allowed South Carolina’s economy not only to survive, but to actually thrive and generate record surpluses.

Governor McMaster and his wife, Peggy, have two adult children and three grandchildren.