2018 United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina

2018 United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina

←  2016 November 6, 2018 (2018-11-06) 2020  →
All 7 South Carolina seats to the United States House of Representatives
Turnout	55.03%
Majority party Minority party   Party Republican Democratic Last election 6 1 Seats won 5 2 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 927,494 758,340 Percentage 54.29% 44.37% Swing 6.24% 4.90%
Winners Vote share Republican   50–60%   60–70% Democratic   50–60%   70–80% Winners   Republican Hold   Democratic Hold   Democratic Gain

The 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina were held on November 6, 2018, to elect the seven U.S. representatives from the state of South Carolina, one from each of the state's seven congressional districts. The elections coincided with a gubernatorial election, as well as other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate and various state and local elections.

This was the first time that the Democrats picked up a seat in South Carolina since 1986. The state congressional delegation changed from 6–1 for Republicans to 5–2 for Republicans. This is the only time since 2008 that Democrats won more than one U.S. House seat in South Carolina.

Results summary

Statewide

Party		Candi- dates	Votes		Seats
			No.	%	No.	+/–	%
	Republican Party	7	927,494	54.29%	5	1	71.43%
	Democratic Party	7	758,340	44.37%	2	1	28.57%
	American Party	3	15,011	0.88%	0		0.00%
	Constitution Party	1	3,443	0.20%	0		0.00%
	Green Party	1	3,214	0.19%	0		0.00%
	Write-in	7	1,790	0.10%	0		0.00%
Total		26	1,709,292	100.00%	7		100.00%

Popular vote Republican   54.29% Democratic   44.37% Other   1.37%

House seats Republican   71.43% Democratic   28.57%

District

Results of the 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina by district: ^[1]

District	Republican		Democratic		Others		Total		Result
	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%
District 1	141,473	49.22%	145,455	50.60%	505	0.18%	287,433	100.00%	Democratic gain
District 2	144,642	56.25%	109,199	42.47%	3,298	1.28%	257,139	100.00%	Republican hold
District 3	153,338	67.79%	70,046	30.97%	2,820	1.25%	226,204	100.00%	Republican hold
District 4	145,321	59.57%	89,182	36.56%	9,447	3.87%	243,950	100.00%	Republican hold
District 5	141,757	57.03%	103,129	41.49%	3,693	1.49%	248,579	100.00%	Republican hold
District 6	58,282	28.23%	144,765	70.13%	3,386	1.64%	206,433	100.00%	Democratic hold
District 7	142,681	59.56%	96,564	40.31%	309	0.13%	239,554	100.00%	Republican hold
Total	927,494	54.26%	758,340	44.37%	23,458	1.37%	1,709,292	100.00%	.

District 1

2018 South Carolina's 1st congressional district election

←  2016 November 6, 2018 2020  →

Nominee Joe Cunningham Katie Arrington Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 145,455 141,473 Percentage 50.6% 49.2%

County Results Cunningham:     50–60% Arrington:     50–60%     70–80%

U.S. Representative before election Mark Sanford Republican Elected U.S. Representative Joe Cunningham Democratic

See also: South Carolina's 1st congressional district

The 1st district is located in the Low Country, on the Atlantic coastal plain from Hilton Head to the border of Georgetown County, it includes most of the Charleston area. The incumbent was Republican Mark Sanford, who had represented the district since 2013. Sanford was defeated by Republican Katie Arrington in the primary. Arrington went on to lose the general election to Democrat Joe Cunningham.

Democratic primary

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Joe Cunningham	23,443	71.5
	Democratic	Toby Smith	9,342	28.5
Total votes			32,785	100.0

Republican primary

Sanford defeated State Representative Jenny Horne in the 2016 primary by only a 56-44 percent margin. ^[2] The closer than expected result led to speculation that Sanford could be vulnerable to another primary challenge in 2018. ^[3] Former director of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control Catherine Templeton was reportedly being recruited to challenge Sanford, but decided instead to run for governor. ^{[4] [5]}

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Katie Arrington	Mark Sanford	Undecided
Palmetto Politics	May 13–14, 2018	315	± 4.5%	39%	40%	21%

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Katie Arrington	33,089	50.6
	Republican	Mark Sanford (incumbent)	30,428	46.5
	Republican	Dimitri Cherny	1,930	2.9
Total votes			65,447	100.0

Endorsements

Katie Arrington (R)

Executive branch officials

• Donald Trump, 45th President of the United States ^[6]

State figures

• Keith Summey, North Charleston Mayor ^[7]

Mark Sanford (R)

U.S. Representatives

• Justin Amash, U.S. Congressman (I-MI) ^[8]
• Joe Walsh, former U.S. Congressman (R-IL) ^[9]

Organizations

• Tea Party Patriots ^[10]
• National Federation of Independent Business ^[11]
• FreedomWorks ^[12]

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
538 [13]	Likely R	November 6, 2018
Daily Kos [14]	Lean R	November 5, 2018
RCP [15]	Lean R	November 5, 2018
Sabato's Crystal Ball [16]	Lean R	November 5, 2018
Inside Elections [17]	Likely R	November 5, 2018
The Cook Political Report [18]	Lean R	November 5, 2018

Debates

• Complete video of debate, October 16, 2018

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Katie Arrington (R)	Joe Cunningham (D)	Undecided
Public Policy Polling (D)	August 30–31, 2018	628	± 3.9%	49%	42%	9%

Results

South Carolina's 1st congressional district, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Joe Cunningham	145,455	50.6
	Republican	Katie Arrington	141,473	49.2
	n/a	Write-ins	505	0.2
Total votes			287,433	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 2

2018 South Carolina's 2nd congressional district election

←  2016 2020  →

Nominee Joe Wilson Sean Carrigan Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 144,642 109,199 Percentage 56.2% 42.5%

County results Wilson:     50–60%     60–70% Carrigan:     50–60%

U.S. Representative before election Joe Wilson Republican Elected U.S. Representative Joe Wilson Republican

See also: South Carolina's 2nd congressional district

The 2nd district is located in central South Carolina and spans from Columbia to the South Carolina side of the Augusta, Georgia metropolitan area. The incumbent was Republican Joe Wilson, who had represented the district since 2001. Wilson was re-elected with 60% of the vote in 2016 and ran unopposed in the Republican primary.

Democratic primary

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Annabelle Robertson	14,109	41.8
	Democratic	Sean Carrigan	13,469	39.9
	Democratic	Phil Black	6,200	18.4
Total votes			33,778	100.0

Runoff results

Democratic primary runoff results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Sean Carrigan	5,726	53.36
	Democratic	Annabelle Robertson	5,004	46.64
Total votes			10,730	100.0

General election

Results

South Carolina's 2nd congressional district, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Joe Wilson (incumbent)	144,642	56.2
	Democratic	Sean Carrigan	109,199	42.5
	American	Sonny Narang	3,111	1.2
	n/a	Write-ins	187	0.1
Total votes			257,139	100.0
	Republican hold

District 3

2018 South Carolina's 3rd congressional district election

←  2016 2020  →

Nominee Jeff Duncan Mary Geren Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 153,338 70,046 Percentage 67.8% 31.0%

County results Duncan:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

U.S. Representative before election Jeff Duncan Republican Elected U.S. Representative Jeff Duncan Republican

See also: South Carolina's 3rd congressional district

The 3rd district is located in northwestern South Carolina. The incumbent was Republican Jeff Duncan, who had represented the district since 2011. Duncan was re-elected with 73% of the vote in 2016.

Democratic primary

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mary Geren	12,929	69.7
	Democratic	Hosea Cleveland	5,615	30.3
Total votes			18,544	100.0

General election

Results

South Carolina's 3rd congressional district, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jeff Duncan (incumbent)	153,338	67.8
	Democratic	Mary Geren	70,046	31.0
	American	Dave Moore	2,697	1.2
	n/a	Write-ins	123	0.0
Total votes			226,204	100.0
	Republican hold

District 4

2018 South Carolina's 4th congressional district election

←  2016 2020  →

Nominee William Timmons Brandon Brown Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 145,321 89,182 Percentage 59.6% 36.6%

County results Timmons:     50–60%     60–70%

U.S. Representative before election Trey Gowdy Republican Elected U.S. Representative William Timmons Republican

See also: South Carolina's 4th congressional district

The 4th district is located in Upstate South Carolina. The incumbent was Republican Trey Gowdy, who had represented the district since 2011. Gowdy was re-elected with 67% of the vote in 2016. Gowdy announced in January 2018 that he would not run for re-election in 2018. ^[19]

Democratic primary

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Doris Lee Turner	7,021	29.5
	Democratic	Brandon P Brown	6,787	28.5
	Democratic	Eric Graben	6,126	25.7
	Democratic	Will Morin	2,172	9.1
	Democratic	J.T. Davis	1,715	7.2
Total votes			23,821	100.0

Runoff results

Democratic primary runoff results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Brandon P Brown	7,085	62.11
	Democratic	Doris Lee Turner	4,323	37.89
Total votes			11,408	100.0

Republican primary

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Lee Bright	16,641	24.9
	Republican	William Timmons	12,818	19.2
	Republican	Dan Hamilton	12,445	18.6
	Republican	Josh Kimbrell	7,422	11.1
	Republican	James Epley	5,365	8.0
	Republican	Stephen Brown	5,057	7.6
	Republican	Shannon Pierce	2,436	3.6
	Republican	Mark Burns	1,650	2.5
	Republican	Claude Schmid	1,405	2.1
	Republican	Dan Albert	510	0.8
	Republican	John Marshall Mosser	454	0.7
	Republican	Justin David Sanders	352	0.5
	Republican	Barry Bell	199	0.3
Total votes			66,754	100.0

Runoff results

Republican primary runoff results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	William Timmons	37,014	54.29
	Republican	Lee Bright	31,170	45.71
Total votes			68,184	100.0

General election

Results

South Carolina's 4th congressional district, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	William Timmons	145,321	59.6
	Democratic	Brandon Brown	89,182	36.6
	American	Guy Furay	9,203	3.8
	n/a	Write-ins	244	0.1
Total votes			243,950	100.0
	Republican hold

District 5

2018 South Carolina's 5th congressional district election

←  2017 (special) 2020  →

Nominee Ralph Norman Archie Parnell Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 141,757 103,129 Percentage 57.0% 41.5%

County results Norman:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Parnell:     50–60%     60–70%

U.S. Representative before election Ralph Norman Republican Elected U.S. Representative Ralph Norman Republican

See also: South Carolina's 5th congressional district

The 5th district is located in northern South Carolina. The incumbent was Republican Ralph Norman, who had represented the district since 2017. Norman was elected with 51% of the vote in a 2017 special election to replace Mick Mulvaney. Norman's challenger in the special election, Archie Parnell, announced on the 9th of October that he would seek the Democratic nomination for the 2018 election for District 5. The primaries were held on June 12, 2018. Incumbent Ralph Norman was unopposed for the Republican nomination.

Democratic primary

Special election candidate and former Goldman Sachs employee Parnell had the most fundraising of the four Democratic candidates as of June 9. ^[20] He was opposed by former York County Councilwoman Sidney Moore, ^[21] professional clown Steven Lough, ^[22] and Mark Ali, a former undocumented immigrant. ^[23] Parnell's campaign was overshadowed by the resignation of many of his campaign staff after the discovery of allegations of domestic violence committed by him in 1973. ^[24] However, he refused to drop out of the race, and won the primary with 60% of the vote.

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Archie Parnell	16,610	60.0
	Democratic	Sidney Moore	4,753	17.2
	Democratic	Mark Ali	3,710	13.4
	Democratic	Steve Lough	2,620	9.5
Total votes			27,693	100.0

General election

Results

South Carolina's 5th congressional district, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ralph Norman (incumbent)	141,757	57.0
	Democratic	Archie Parnell	103,129	41.5
	Constitution	Michael Chandler	3,443	1.4
	n/a	Write-ins	250	0.1
Total votes			248,579	100.0
	Republican hold

District 6

2018 South Carolina's 6th congressional district election

←  2016 2020  →

Nominee Jim Clyburn Gerhard Gressmann Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 144,765 58,282 Percentage 70.1% 28.2%

County results Clyburn:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%

U.S. Representative before election Jim Clyburn Democratic Elected U.S. Representative Jim Clyburn Democratic

See also: South Carolina's 6th congressional district

The 6th district is located in central and southern South Carolina. The incumbent was Democrat Jim Clyburn, who had represented the district since 1993. Clyburn was re-elected with 70% of the vote in 2016.

General election

Results

South Carolina's 6th congressional district, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jim Clyburn (incumbent)	144,765	70.1
	Republican	Gerhard Gressmann	58,282	28.2
	Green	Bryan Pugh	3,214	1.6
	n/a	Write-ins	172	0.1
Total votes			206,433	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 7

2018 South Carolina's 7th congressional district election

←  2016 2020  →

Nominee Tom Rice Robert Q. Williams Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 142,681 96,564 Percentage 59.6% 40.3%

County results Rice:     50–60%     60–70% Williams:     50–60%

U.S. Representative before election Tom Rice Republican Elected U.S. Representative Tom Rice Republican

See also: South Carolina's 7th congressional district

The 7th district is located in northeastern South Carolina. The incumbent was Republican Tom Rice, who had represented the district since 2013. Rice was re-elected with 61% of the vote in 2016.

Democratic primary

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Robert Q. Williams	14,087	41.3
	Democratic	Mal Hyman	10,122	29.7
	Democratic	Bill Hopkins	6,066	17.8
	Democratic	Bruce Fischer	3,811	11.2
Total votes			34,086	100.0

Runoff results

Democratic primary runoff results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Robert Q. Williams	7,702	51.40
	Democratic	Mal Hyman	7,282	48.60
Total votes			14,984	100.0

Republican primary

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Tom Rice (incumbent)	37,926	83.6
	Republican	Larry Guy Hammond	7,438	16.4
Total votes			45,364	100.0

General election

Results

South Carolina's 7th congressional district, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Tom Rice (incumbent)	142,681	59.6
	Democratic	Robert Q. Williams	96,564	40.3
	n/a	Write-ins	309	0.1
Total votes			239,554	100.0
	Republican hold

References

1. Johnson, Cheryl L. (February 28, 2019). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 6, 2018". Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives . Retrieved April 27, 2019.
2. Dumain, Emma (June 14, 2016). "Sanford beats Horne in tight primary race". The Post and Courier . Retrieved July 2, 2016.
3. Singer, Jeff (June 15, 2016). "Noted hiker Mark Sanford wins a surprisingly tough GOP congressional primary in South Carolina". Daily Kos Elections . Retrieved December 2, 2016.
4. "Mark Sanford Is More Vulnerable Than Ever". FITS News. June 15, 2016. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
5. Dumain, Emma; Kropf, Schuyler (November 19, 2016). "Catherine Templeton running for governor". The Post and Courier . Retrieved November 28, 2016.
6. Donald Trump. "Mark Sanford has been very unhelpful to me in my campaign to MAGA. He is MIA and nothing but trouble. He is better off in Argentina. I fully endorse Katie Arrington for Congress in SC, a state I love. She is tough on crime and will continue our fight to lower taxes. VOTE Katie!". Twitter.
7. Kropf, Schuyler (February 28, 2018). "North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey endorses Katie Arrington for Congress over Mark Sanford". The Post and Courier .
8. Justin Amash. ".@MarkSanford's job is to support and defend the Constitution. He's one of the most principled, consistent, and conservative members of Congress I've ever known. And unlike you, Mark has shown humility in his role and a desire to be a better man than he was the day before". Twitter.
9. Joe Walsh. "What a shitty thing for Trump to do. He goes after one of our top Conservatives, @MarkSanford, and takes a shot at Sanford's personal life. This coming from a President you'd never let your daughter near. Disgusting. Let's hope Sanford wins big time today". Twitter.
10. "Citizens Fund Endorses Mark Sanford in SC-01". TPPCF. May 30, 2018.
11. "Small Business Endorses Sanford for Re-election". NFIB. May 24, 2018.
12. "FreedomWorks for America Endorses Rep. Mark Sanford in South Carolina's First Congressional District". FreedomWorks. May 29, 2018.
13. Silver, Nate (August 16, 2018). "2018 House Forecast". FiveThirtyEight . Retrieved November 6, 2018.
14. "Daily Kos Elections 2018 race ratings". Daily Kos . Retrieved November 5, 2018.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
15. "Battle for the House 2018". RCP. Retrieved November 5, 2018.
16. "2018 House". Sabato's Crystal Ball . Retrieved November 5, 2018.
17. "2018 House Ratings". The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved November 5, 2018.
18. "2018 House Race Ratings". Cook Political Report. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
19. Pathe, Simone (January 31, 2018). "South Carolina's Trey Gowdy Won't Seek Re-Election". Roll Call . Washington, DC. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
20. FEC.gov. (2018). PARNELL, ARCHIE - Candidate overview - FEC.gov. [online] Available at: https://www.fec.gov/data/candidate/H8SC05174/ [Accessed 9 Jun. 2018].
21. Greenvilleonline.com. (2018). Sidney Moore, Democrat candidate for U.S. Senate. [online] Available at: https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/politics/2014/05/30/sidney-moore/9782759/ [Accessed 9 Jun. 2018].
22. Stracqualursi, Veronica (March 27, 2018). "A clown is running for Congress in South Carolina | CNN Politics". CNN. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
23. Andrews, B. (2018). This South Carolina primary will test whether Democrats are willing to overlook domestic violence. [online] Mother Jones. Available at: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/06/south-carolina-archie-parnell-domestic-violence/ [Accessed 9 Jun. 2018].
24. Lovegrove, Jamie. "Top South Carolina candidate refuses to quit congressional race after abuse discovery". Post and Courier. Retrieved June 9, 2018.

External links

• Candidates at Vote Smart
• Candidates at Ballotpedia
• Campaign finance at FEC
• Campaign finance at OpenSecrets

Official campaign websites of first district candidates

• Katie Arrington (R) for Congress
• Joe Cunningham (D) for Congress

Official campaign websites of second district candidates

• Sean Carrigan (D) for Congress
• Joe Wilson (R) for Congress

Official campaign websites of third district candidates

• Jeff Duncan (R) for Congress
• Mary Geren (D) for Congress

Official campaign websites of fourth district candidates

• Brandon Brown (D) for Congress
• William Timmons (R) for Congress

Official campaign websites of fifth district candidates

• Ralph Norman (R) for Congress
• Archie Parnell (D) for Congress

Official campaign websites of sixth district candidates

• Jim Clyburn (D) for Congress
• Gerhard Gressmann (R) for Congress

Official campaign websites of seventh district candidates

• Tom Rice (R) for Congress