United States Senate election in South Carolina, 1978

The 1978 South Carolina United States Senate election was held on November 7, 1978 to select the U.S. Senator from the state of South Carolina. Popular incumbent Republican Senator Strom Thurmond defeated Democratic challenger Charles D. Ravenel.

Democratic primary

The South Carolina Democratic Party held their primary for governor on June 13, 1978. Charles D. Ravenel, an unsuccessful candidate in the 1974 gubernatorial contest, originally planned to run for Governor again in 1978, but was convinced by Vice President Walter Mondale in 1977 to run for Senator. He garnered over 50% of the vote in the primary and avoided a runoff election.

Republican primary

Senator Strom Thurmond faced no opposition from South Carolina Republicans and avoided a primary election.

General election campaign

Thurmond generally ignored Ravenel on the campaign and refused to debate him. When they did cross paths, Thurmond criticized Ravenel for never having held a political office. Ravenel did not help his cause by his actions in the 1974 gubernatorial race when he refused to endorse the Democratic nominee after he had been disqualified. This irritated many Democrats and they also accused him of being nothing more than a liberal New Yorker. Age was beginning to become an issue with Thurmond, so to combat perceptions of old age, Thurmond often appeared with his children on the campaign trail. While 1978 was generally a Democratic year, Thurmond was able to pull off a commanding victory over Ravenel.

Election results

Election box candidate with party link
party = Republican Party (United States)
candidate = Strom Thurmond
votes = 351,733
percentage = 55.6
change = -7.9 Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (United States)
candidate = Charles D. Ravenel
votes = 281,119
percentage = 44.4
change = +7.9 Election box candidate
party = "No party"
candidate = Write-Ins
votes = 257
percentage = 0.0
change = 0.0Election box majority
votes = 70,614
percentage = 11.2
change = -15.8Election box turnout
votes = 633,109
percentage = 57.7
change = -7.5
colspan=5 |Republican hold
-

frame|300px|none|1978 South Carolina U.S. Senate election map, by percentile by county.

ee also

*List of United States Senators from South Carolina
*United States Senate elections, 1978
*South Carolina gubernatorial election, 1978

References

*cite book | last = Bass | first = Jack | coauthors=Marilyn W. Thompson | title = Ol' Strom: An Unauthorized Biography of Strom Thurmond | year = 1998 | publisher = Longstreet | pages = pp. 290-292
*cite book | last = State Election Commission | title = Report of the South Carolina State Election Commission | year = 1979 | publisher = State Election Commission | location = Columbia, SC | pages = p. 54
*cite news | title=Challenging a Southern Legend | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,916420-1,00.html | publisher=Time | date=1978-10-16 | accessdate=2008-02-09