South Carolina gubernatorial election, 1974

The 1974 South Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1974 to select the governor of the state of South Carolina. James B. Edwards defeated W.J. Bryan Dorn and became the first Republican since Daniel Henry Chamberlain in 1874 to win a gubernatorial election in South Carolina. It was also the closest gubernatorial election in South Carolina since the disputed election of 1876.

Democratic Primary

The South Carolina Democratic Party held their primary for governor on July 16, 1974 . Charles D. Ravenel emerged as the winner of the runoff election, but the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that Ravenel did not meet the residency requirements in the state's constitution. W.J. Bryan Dorn was chosen in a special state convention to be the Democratic candidate in the general election for governor.

General Election

The general election was held on November 5, 1974 and James B. Edwards shockingly defeated W.J. Bryan Dorn in what was a banner year for the Democrats in the wake of the Watergate scandal. Turnout was higher than the previous gubernatorial election because of the increasingly competitive nature of the race between the two parties.

Election box candidate with party link
party = Republican Party (United States)
candidate = James B. Edwards
votes = 266,338
percentage = 50.3
change = +4.4 Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (United States)
candidate = W.J. Bryan Dorn
votes = 248,861
percentage = 47.0
change = -5.1 Election box candidate
party = Independent
candidate = Peggy Jennings
votes = 8,313
percentage = 1.6
change = -0.4 Election box candidate
party = "No party"
candidate = Write-Ins
votes = 5,528
percentage = 1.1
change = +1.1Election box majority
votes = 17,477
percentage = 3.3
change = -2.9Election box turnout
votes = 529,040
percentage = 53.0
change = -1.2
colspan=5 |Republican gain from Democratic
-

frame|300px|none|1974 South Carolina gubernatorial election map, by percentile by county.

ee also

*Governor of South Carolina
*List of Governors of South Carolina
*South Carolina gubernatorial elections

References

*cite book | last = State Election Commission | title = South Carolina Election Report 1974 | year = 1975 | publisher = The Commission | location = Columbia, SC | pages = p. 36
*cite news |title= How Counties Voted |work= The News and Courier |date= 7 November 1974 |page= 17A

External links

* [http://www.sciway.net/hist/governors/edwards.html SCIway Biography of Governor James Burrows Edwards]

sequence
prev=1970
list=South Carolina gubernatorial elections
next=1978