United States Senate special election in South Carolina, 1966

The 1966 South Carolina United States Senate special election was held on November 8, 1966 to select the U.S. Senator from the state of South Carolina. The election resulted from the death of Senator Olin D. Johnston in 1965. Then Governor Donald S. Russell entered in a prearranged agreement with Lieutenant Governor Robert Evander McNair in which Russell would resign his post so that he could be appointed Senator. However, former Governor Fritz Hollings won the Democratic primary election and went on to beat Republican state senator Marshall Parker in the general election to fill the remaining two years of the unexpired term.

Democratic Primary

In the 1962 gubernatorial election, Donald S. Russell had stated that he would he serve out a full term and not seek a higher office. However, midway through his term he resigned from the governorship so that he could be appointed to the United States Senate. Russell faced a challenge in the Democratic primary from former Governor Fritz Hollings, who had lost to Olin D. Johnston in the 1962 primary for the same Senate seat. On June 14, the South Carolina Democratic Party held their primary election and Hollings scored a comfortable victory over Russell to become the Democratic nominee.

Republican Primary

The South Carolina Republican Party was in the beginning stages of becoming a major political party in South Carolina politics. It had few elected officials in the state and when state senator Marshall Parker from Oconee County sought the Republican nomination, he did not face any opposition.

General election campaign

Parker faced an uphill battle in winning the Senate seat. First, the state was dominated by the Democratic Party and any Republican politician faced a tough time seeking election. Although there was hope for Republicans because Barry Goldwater had won the state in the 1964 presidential election. Secondly, most of the resources of the Republican party were allocated for Strom Thurmond's re-election campaign and Joseph O. Rogers, Jr. gubernatorial election. Nevertheless, Parker kept the race close and almost defeated Hollings in the general election.

Election results

Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (United States)
candidate = Fritz Hollings
votes = 223,790
percentage = 51.3
change = -5.9 Election box candidate with party link
party = Republican Party (United States)
candidate = Marshall Parker
votes = 212,032
percentage = 48.7
change = +5.9 Election box majority
votes = 11,758
percentage = 2.6
change = -11.8Election box turnout
votes = 435,822
percentage = 49.1
change = +2.2
colspan=5 |Democratic hold
-

frame|300px|none|1966 South Carolina U.S. Senate special election map, by percentile by county.

Aftermath

Hollings first Senate victory was also his closest and he was re-elected easily in 1968 (full term), 1974, 1980, 1986, 1992 and 1998. He eventually became seventh-longest serving Senator in history (just behind Robert Byrd, Thurmond, Ted Kennedy, Daniel Inouye, Carl Hayden and John C. Stennis. He and Thurmond were also the longest-serving Senate duo (because of this, despite his length of service, Hollings spent 36 years as the junior Senator, despite having seniority of almost of his colleagues). Hollings went on to become a nationally important political figure, e.g., serving as Chairman of the Budget committee.

References

*"Supplemental Report of the Secretary of State to the General Assembly of South Carolina." "Reports and Resolutions of South Carolina to the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina". Volume II. Columbia, SC: 1967, pp. 16, 41.
*cite news | title=South Carolina's New Senator | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,898654-1,00.html | publisher=Time | date=1965-04-30 | accessdate=2008-02-02

ee also

*List of United States Senators from South Carolina
*United States Senate elections, 1966
*United States Senate election in South Carolina, 1966
*South Carolina gubernatorial election, 1966