United States Senate election in South Carolina, 1998

The 1998 South Carolina United States Senate election was held on November 3, 1998, to select the U.S. Senator from the state of South Carolina. Popular incumbent Democratic Senator Fritz Hollings cruised to re-election against Republican 4th district congressman Bob Inglis.

Democratic Primary

Fritz Hollings, the incumbent Senator, faced no opposition from South Carolina Democrats and avoided a primary election.

Republican Primary

The South Carolina Republican Party held their primary on June 9, 1998. Bob Inglis, a Representative from the 4th congressional district, entered the race and easily defeated Greenville County GOP Chairman Stephen Brown.

General election campaign

The race between Hollings and Inglis gave the voters a choice of two very different visions of and for South Carolina. Hollings was from the Lowcountry, a face of the Old New South, and a master at bringing home the bacon. On the other hand, Inglis came from the Upstate, was a face of the New New South, and opposed to pork barrel spending. Hollings viciously attacked Inglis on the campaign trail as a "goddamn skunk" and when Inglis requested that Hollings sign a pledge for campaign courtesy, Hollings replied that Inglis could "kiss his fanny." Inglis tried to tie Hollings with President Clinton, who had tarnished the country for his role in the Lewinsky scandal.

Ultimately, Hollings won the race for four crucial reasons. First, Inglis refused to accept PAC donations which allowed Hollings to enjoy a huge financial advantage and blanket the state with his television advertisements. Secondly, Inglis came from the Upstate which already provided GOP majorities whereas Hollings came from the Lowcountry which was a key tossup region in the state. Thirdly, the voters two years prior in the 1996 Senate election had rewarded Strom Thurmond for his long service to the state and it was unlikely that they would then deny re-election to Hollings. Finally, the 1998 South Carolina GOP ticket was dragged down with unpopular Governor David Beasley at the top of the ticket who would go on to lose his re-election campaign to Jim Hodges.

General election results

Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (United States)
candidate = Fritz Hollings
votes = 562,791
percentage = 52.7
change = +2.6Election box candidate with party link
party = Republican Party (United States)
candidate = Bob Inglis
votes = 488,132
percentage = 45.7
change = -1.2Election box candidate with party link
party = Libertarian Party (United States)
candidate = Richard T. Quillian
votes = 16,987
percentage = 1.6
change = -0.3Election box candidate
party = "No party"
candidate = Write-Ins
votes = 457
percentage = 0.0
change = -0.1Election box majority
votes = 74,659
percentage = 7.0
change = +3.8Election box turnout
votes = 1,068,367
percentage = 52.8
change =
colspan=5 |Democratic hold
-

frame|300px|none|1998 South Carolina U.S. Senate election map, by percentile by county.

Polling

ee also

*List of United States Senators from South Carolina
*United States Senate elections, 1998
*South Carolina gubernatorial election, 1998

References

*cite news | first=Candy | last=Crowley | title=S.C. Senate race pits old South against new | url=http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1998/10/27/sc.senate/ | publisher=CNN | date=1998-10-27 | accessdate=2008-01-30
*cite news | first=Candy | last=Crowley | coauthors = Stuart Rothenberg | title=Incumbent Hollings wins close race in South Carolina | url=http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1998/11/03/election/senate/south.carolina/ | publisher=CNN | date=1998-11-03 | accessdate=2008-01-30
*cite news | first=David | last=Plotz | title=Foghorn Leghorn Meets an Owl | url=http://www.slate.com/id/4525 | publisher=Slate | date=1998-10-22 | accessdate=2008-01-30