United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina, 1870

frame|300px|right|South Carolina Congressional Districts, 1868 to 1870

The 1870 South Carolina United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 1, 1870 to select six Representatives for two-year terms from the state of South Carolina. The fifth and sixth seats were decided by an at-large election, but the House of Representatives refused to seat the two winners. The two incumbents who ran were re-elected and the two open seats were retained by the Republicans. The composition of the state delegation thus remained solely Republican.

1st Congressional District Special Election

The seat for the 1st congressional district became vacant following the resignation of Republican Benjamin F. Whittemore in February 1870. A special election was called to be held simultaneously with the regular election and Republican Joseph Rainey defeated Democrat C.W. Dudley to serve the remainder of the term for the 41st Congress.

General election results

Election box candidate with party link
party = Republican Party (United States)
candidate = Joseph Rainey
votes = 20,385
percentage = 86.5
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (United States)
candidate = C.W. Dudley
votes = 3,192
percentage = 13.5
change = Election box majority
votes = 17,193
percentage = 73.0
change = Election box turnout
votes = 23,577
percentage =
change =
colspan=5 |Republican hold
-

1st Congressional District

Republican Joseph Rainey defeated Democrat C.W. Dudley in the regular election for the 1st congressional district to win the term for the 42nd Congress.

General election results

Election box candidate with party link
party = Republican Party (United States)
candidate = Joseph Rainey
votes = 20,221
percentage = 63.5
change = -23.0Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (United States)
candidate = C.W. Dudley
votes = 11,628
percentage = 36.5
change = +23.0Election box candidate
party = "No party"
candidate = Write-Ins
votes = 9
percentage = 0.0
change = 0.0Election box majority
votes = 8,593
percentage = 27.0
change = -46.0Election box turnout
votes = 31,858
percentage =
change =
colspan=5 |Republican hold
-

2nd Congressional District

Incumbent Republican Congressman Christopher C. Bowen of the 2nd congressional district, in office since 1868, was defeated by black Republican Robert C. De Large in the general election.

General election results

Election box candidate with party link
party = Republican Party (United States)
candidate = Robert C. De Large
votes = 16,686
percentage = 49.6
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Republican Party (United States)
candidate = Christopher C. Bowen (incumbent)
votes = 15,700
percentage = 46.7
change =
-
bgcolor="#ff00ff"
Union Reform
Robert Seymour Symmes Tharin
align="right" | 862
align="right" | 2.6
align="right" |
-Election box candidate
party = "No party"
candidate = Write-Ins
votes = 364
percentage = 1.1
change = Election box majority
votes = 986
percentage = 2.9
change = Election box turnout
votes = 33,612
percentage =
change =
colspan=5 |Republican hold
-

3rd Congressional District

Incumbent Republican Congressman Solomon L. Hoge of the 3rd congressional district, in office since 1869, declined to run for re-election. Robert B. Elliott was nominated by the Republicans and defeated Union Reform challenger John E. Bacon in the general election.

General election results

Election box candidate with party link
party = Republican Party (United States)
candidate = Robert B. Elliott
votes = 20,564
percentage = 59.5
change =
-
bgcolor="#ff00ff"
Union Reform
John E. Bacon
align="right" | 13,997
align="right" | 40.5
align="right" |
-Election box candidate
party = "No party"
candidate = Write-Ins
votes = 4
percentage = 0.0
change = Election box majority
votes = 6,567
percentage = 19.0
change = Election box turnout
votes = 34,565
percentage =
change =
colspan=5 |Republican hold
-

4th Congressional District

Incumbent Republican Congressman Alexander S. Wallace of the 4th congressional district, in office since 1870, defeated Democratic challenger Isaac G. McKissick.

General election results

Election box candidate with party link
party = Republican Party (United States)
candidate = Alexander S. Wallace (incumbent)
votes = 16,747
percentage = 55.3
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (United States)
candidate = Isaac G. McKissick
votes = 13,442
percentage = 44.4
change = Election box candidate
party = "No party"
candidate = Write-Ins
votes = 106
percentage = 0.3
change = Election box majority
votes = 3,305
percentage = 10.9
change = Election box turnout
votes = 30,295
percentage =
change =
colspan=5 |Republican hold
-

At-Large District

The state believed that it was entitled to two additional seats in the House of Representatives and elected these members from an At-large congressional district. The voters voted for two candidates and the top two vote getters would be sent to Washington, but there were only two candidates running in the at-large election. White Republican J.P.M. Epping and black Republican Lucius Wimbush won the election, but the House of Representatives refused to seat them.

General election results

Election box candidate with party link
party = Republican Party (United States)
candidate = J.P.M. Epping
votes = 71,321
percentage = 50.0
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Republican Party (United States)
candidate = Lucius Wimbush
votes = 71,262
percentage = 50.0
change = Election box turnout
votes = 142,583
percentage =
change =
colspan=5 |Republican win
-

ee also

*United States House of Representatives elections, 1870
*South Carolina gubernatorial election, 1870
*South Carolina's congressional districts

References

*"Report of the Secretary of State. November 1870." "Reports and Resolutions of the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina at the Regular Session, 1870-'71". Columbia, SC: Republican Printing Company, 1871, pp. 513-517.
*cite news |title=Political. South Carolina. |work=New York Times |date=21 November 1870 |page=1