Prior to 1865, the Governor of South Carolina was chosen by the General Assembly. The Constitution of South Carolina provided for the voters of South Carolina to choose the governor; James Lawrence Orr was the first elected governor of South Carolina. The following is a list of gubernatorial election results for the state of South Carolina:

Results

YearWinnerMinorityCounty Map 1865 James Lawrence OrrNo party9,92851.9% Wade Hampton IIINo party9,18648.1% 1868 Robert Kingston ScottRepublican69,69375.1% William Dennison PorterDemocrat23,05724.9% 1870 Robert Kingston ScottRepublican85,07162.3% Richard B. CarpenterUnion Reform51,53737.7% 1872 Franklin J. Moses, Jr.Republican69,83865.4% Reuben TomlinsonIndependent Republican36,53334.3% 1874 Daniel Henry ChamberlainRepublican80,40353.9% John T. GreenIndependent Republican68,81846.1% 1876 Wade Hampton IIIDemocrat92,26150.3% Daniel Henry ChamberlainRepublican91,12749.7% 1878 Wade Hampton IIIDemocrat119,55099.8% Unopposed 1880 Johnson HagoodDemocrat117,43296.4% L.W.R. BlairGreenback-Labor4,2773.5% 1882 Hugh Smith ThompsonDemocrat67,15879.0% J. Hendrix McLaneGreenback-Labor17,71920.8% 1884 Hugh Smith ThompsonDemocrat67,895100% Unopposed 1886 John Peter Richardson IIIDemocrat33,11499.9% Unopposed 1888 John Peter Richardson IIIDemocrat58,730100% Unopposed 1890 Ben TillmanDemocrat59,15979.8% Alexander Cheves HaskellStraightout Democrat14,82820.0% 1892 Ben TillmanDemocrat56,67399.9% Unopposed 1894 John Gary EvansDemocrat39,50769.6% Sampson PopeIndependent17,27830.4% 1896 William Haselden EllerbeDemocrat59,42489.1% Sampson PopeReorganized Republican4,4326.6% 1898 William Haselden EllerbeDemocrat28,225100% Unopposed 1900 Miles Benjamin McSweeneyDemocrat46,457100% Unopposed 1902 Duncan Clinch HeywardDemocrat31,817100% Unopposed 1904 Duncan Clinch HeywardDemocrat51,917100% Unopposed 1906 Martin Frederick AnselDemocrat30,251100% Unopposed 1908 Martin Frederick AnselDemocrat61,060100% Unopposed 1910 Coleman Livingston BleaseDemocrat30,739100% Unopposed 1912 Coleman Livingston BleaseDemocrat44,12299.5% R.B. BrittonSocialist2080.5% 1914 Richard Irvine Manning IIIDemocrat34,60699.8% R.B. BrittonSocialist830.2% 1916 Richard Irvine Manning IIIDemocrat60,40597.9% Coleman Livingston BleaseIndependent1,0891.8% 1918 Robert Archer CooperDemocrat25,267100% Unopposed 1920 Robert Archer CooperDemocrat58,050100% Unopposed 1922 Thomas Gordon McLeodDemocrat34,065100% Unopposed 1924 Thomas Gordon McLeodDemocrat53,545100% Unopposed 1926 John Gardiner Richards, Jr.Democrat16,589100% Unopposed 1930 Ibra Charles BlackwoodDemocrat17,790100% Unopposed 1934 Olin D. JohnstonDemocrat22,873100% Unopposed 1938 Burnet Rhett MaybankDemocrat49,00999.4% Joseph Augustis TolbertRepublican2830.6% 1942 Olin D. JohnstonDemocrat23,859100% Unopposed 1946 Strom ThurmondDemocrat26,520100% Unopposed 1950 James F. ByrnesDemocrat50,633100% Unopposed 1954 George Bell Timmerman, Jr.Democrat214,204100% Unopposed 1958 Ernest HollingsDemocrat77,714100% Unopposed 1962 Donald Stuart RussellDemocrat253,704100% Unopposed 1966 Robert Evander McNairDemocrat255,85458.2% Joseph O. Rogers, Jr.Republican184,08841.8% 1970 John Carl WestDemocrat251,15152.1% Albert WatsonRepublican221,23645.9% 1974 James Burrows EdwardsRepublican266,33850.3% W.J. Bryan DornDemocrat248,86147.0% 1978 Richard RileyDemocrat384,89861.3% Edward Lunn YoungRepublican236,94637.7% 1982 Richard RileyDemocrat468,78769.8% W. D. Workman Jr.Republican202,80630.2% 1986 Carroll A. Campbell, Jr.Republican384,56551.0% Michael R. DanielDemocrat361,32847.9% 1990 Carroll A. Campbell, Jr.Republican528,83169.5% Theo MitchellDemocrat212,04827.8% 1994 David BeasleyRepublican470,75650.4% Nick TheodoreDemocrat447,00247.9% 1998 Jim HodgesDemocrat570,07053.3% David BeasleyRepublican484,08845.3% 2002 Mark SanfordRepublican585,42252.9% Jim HodgesDemocrat521,14047.0% 2006 Mark SanfordRepublican601,86855.1% Tommy MooreDemocrat489,07644.8% 2010 Nikki HaleyRepublican674,10351.4% Vincent SheheenDemocrat617,42747.1% 2014 Nikki HaleyRepublican696,64555.9% Vincent SheheenDemocrat516,16641.4% 2018 Henry McMasterRepublican921,32454.0% James SmithDemocrat784,18245.9% 2022 Henry McMasterRepublican988,50158.1% Joe CunninghamDemocrat692,69140.7%

Statistics

Firsts The gubernatorial election of 1865 was the first gubernatorial election of South Carolina. The gubernatorial election of 1896 was the first gubernatorial election that featured the use of a primary election. The gubernatorial election of 1898 was the first gubernatorial election that featured the use of a runoff election.

Votes There have been 51 gubernatorial elections in South Carolina. Democrats have won 40 of the 47 (85%) elections that they nominated a candidate. Republicans have won 10 of the 18 (56%) elections that they nominated a candidate. James Lawrence Orr won with the smallest margin of victory in the gubernatorial election of 1865: 743. The gubernatorial election of 1926 had the lowest vote: 16,589. The gubernatorial election of 2018 had the largest vote: 1,705,506.

Unique politicians Only three governors have been defeated for reelection: Daniel Henry Chamberlain in 1876, David Beasley in 1998 and Jim Hodges in 2002. Coleman Livingston Blease has made the most attempts for governor (8): 1906, 1908, 1910, 1912, 1916, 1922, 1934 and 1938. He was successful in 1910 and 1912.

See also Governor of South Carolina List of governors of South Carolina

External links SCIway List of South Carolina Governors in Chronological Order