The 1980 South Carolina United States Senate election was held on November 4, 1980, to select the U.S. Senator from the state of South Carolina. Incumbent Democratic Senator Fritz Hollings easily defeated Republican challenger Marshall Mays to win his fourth (his third full) term.
Democratic primary The South Carolina Democratic Party held their primary for Senator on June 10, 1980. Fritz Hollings, the incumbent Senator, won the Democratic primary against two minor candidates; Nettie Durant Dickerson and William Kreml.
Democratic PrimaryCandidateVotes% Fritz Hollings 266,796 81.2% Nettie Durant Dickerson 34,720 10.6% William P. Kreml 27,049 8.2%
Republican primary The South Carolina Republican Party held their primary on June 10, 1980. Marshall Mays, a former state legislator, emerged as the frontrunner and went on to defeat Charlie Rhodes in the runoff election on June 24.
Republican PrimaryCandidateVotes% Marshall Mays 14,075 42.6% Charlie Rhodes 11,395 34.5% Robert Carley 7,575 22.9% Republican Primary RunoffCandidateVotes%±% Marshall Mays 6,853 64.8% +22.2% Charlie Rhodes 3,717 35.2% +0.7%
General election campaign The Republican Party did not see the race as winnable and Mays received little assistance for his campaign. Hollings did little campaigning for the race and easily won re-election in the midst of an otherwise strong Republican year.
General election results
| colspan=5 | Democratic hold
See also 1980 United States Senate elections List of United States senators from South Carolina
References