Chronically Absent South Carolina Lawmaker Resigns

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by WILL FOLKS

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Embattled South Carolina state representative Chris Murphy has tendered his resignation from the S.C. House of Representatives, effective January 5, 2026.

Murphy, 56, was once the chairman of the powerful S.C. House judiciary committee, but in recent years alleged substance abuse issues have derailed his once-promising political career.

Murphy entered a treatment facility in the summer of 2022 after undisclosed illnesses sidelined him for much of the session that year. At the time he entered treatment, he was attempting to install his wife – S.C. circuit court judge Maite Murphy – as a justice on the S.C. supreme court.

“After struggling with alcohol abuse, I have sought treatment and am currently taking steps to ensure I am healthy moving forward,” Murphy told reporter Joseph Bustos of The (Columbia, S.C.) State at the time.

Murphy’s issues resurfaced this year, with S.C. House speaker Murrell Smith granting him excused absences for the final two-and-a-half months of the 2025 legislative session.

Maite Murphy filed for divorce from her husband earlier this year, news which broke exclusively on FITSNews.

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We said last week another one was biting the dust. Well, here we go… S.C. State Representative Chris Murphy is calling it quits. pic.twitter.com/V7LN08FNyP

— FITSNews (@fitsnews) August 20, 2025

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First elected in 2010, Chris Murphy is serving his eighth term representing S.C. House District 98 (Dorchester County) in Columbia, S.C. While no longer chairman of the judiciary committee, he was a member of the über-influential ways and means committee – the panel which gets the first shot at drafting the Palmetto State’s $41 billion budget each year.

While Murphy’s resignation letter would keep him in office for another four-and-a-half months, preparations to replace him will begin immediately. That’s because Murphy’s letter contained an “irrevocable” declaration, which triggers a special election per S.C. Code of Laws § 8-1-145.

In other words, even though Murphy is not vacating his seat until January 5, a special election will move forward as though the seat has already been vacated.

Filing for that special election will open at 12:00 p.m. EDT on Friday, September 5, 2025 and close at the same time the following Saturday (September 13, 2025). The special primary election will be held on Tuesday, November 4, 2025 with runoffs scheduled for two weeks later (November 18), if necessary.

The special election itself will take place on January 6, 2026 – the day after Murphy’s resignation becomes official.

Frankly, Murphy vacated this seat a long time ago… although his letter curiously touted himself as having “worked tirelessly to be a strong advocate for the people of Dorchester County and the Lowcountry.”

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RELATED | SECRECY PREVAILS IN S.C. POLITICAL DIVORCE

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Local conservative activist Lynz Piper-Loomis was having none of Murphy’s valedictory.

“I have been exposing his corruption and his ‘excused absences’ and so much more for quite some time,” Loomis wrote on X. “Glad to see a swamp rat gone!”

Murphy is the fourth Palmetto State lawmaker to resign from office in the past nine days. Last Monday (August 11, 2025), suspended state representative Robert John ‘RJ’ May III of West Columbia, S.C. stepped down from his post amid an ongoing federal investigation into his alleged possession and distribution of child sex abuse material (a.k.a. CSAM or child pornography). That same day, state senator Roger Nutt of Moore, S.C. stepped down citing a medical diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.

In the aftermath of Nutt’s resignation announcement, state representative Bobby Cox resigned his seat in the S.C. House to seek Nutt’s Senate seat.

Special primary elections for those seats will be held on Tuesday, October 21, 2025, with partisan runoffs scheduled for two weeks later – on November 4, 2025. All four of the vacant seats are staunchly “Republican,” meaning contested GOP primaries are expected (in fact one is already underway).

Count on FITSNews to keep close tabs on all of these races, which could provide a foretaste of the broader battles to come in 2026.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

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