United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina, 1872

frame|300px|right|South Carolina Congressional Districts, 1872

The 1872 South Carolina United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 5, 1872 to select five Representatives for two-year terms from the state of South Carolina. The three 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

Incumbent Republican Congressman Joseph Rainey of the 1st congressional district, in office since 1870, was unopposed in his bid for re-election.

General election results

Election box candidate with party link
party = Republican Party (United States)
candidate = Joseph Rainey (incumbent)
votes = 19,765
percentage = 100.0
change = +36.5Election box candidate
party = "No party"
candidate = Write-Ins
votes = 3
percentage = 0.0
change = 0.0Election box majority
votes = 19,762
percentage = 100.0
change = +73.0Election box turnout
votes = 19,768
percentage =
change =
colspan=5 |Republican hold
-

2nd Congressional District

Incumbent Republican Congressman Robert C. De Large of the 2nd congressional district, in office since 1871, declined to run for re-election. Alonzo J. Ransier was nominated by the Republicans and defeated Independent Republican challenger William Gurney in the general election.

General election results

Election box candidate with party link
party = Republican Party (United States)
candidate = Alonzo J. Ransier
votes = 20,061
percentage = 75.4
change = -20.9
-
bgcolor="#ff00ff"
Independent Republican
William Gurney
align="right" | 6,549
align="right" | 24.6
align="right" | +24.6
-Election box candidate
party = "No party"
candidate = Write-Ins
votes = 11
percentage = 0.0
change = -1.1Election box majority
votes = 13,512
percentage = 50.8
change = -47.9Election box turnout
votes = 26,621
percentage =
change =
colspan=5 |Republican hold
-

3rd Congressional District

Incumbent Republican Congressman Robert B. Elliott of the 3rd congressional district, in office since 1871, defeated two Democratic candidates in the general election.

General election results

Election box candidate with party link
party = Republican Party (United States)
candidate = Robert B. Elliott (incumbent)
votes = 20,564
percentage = 92.5
change = +33.0Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (United States)
candidate = W.H. McCaw
votes = 1,094
percentage = 4.9
change = +4.9Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (United States)
candidate = Samuel McGowan
votes = 411
percentage = 1.9
change = +1.9Election box candidate
party = "No party"
candidate = Write-Ins
votes = 166
percentage = 0.7
change = +0.7Election box majority
votes = 18,893
percentage = 87.6
change = +68.6Election box turnout
votes = 22,235
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 Benjamin Franklin Perry.

General election results

Election box candidate with party link
party = Republican Party (United States)
candidate = Alexander S. Wallace (incumbent)
votes = 14,590
percentage = 53.1
change = -2.2Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (United States)
candidate = Benjamin Franklin Perry
votes = 12,879
percentage = 46.9
change = +2.5Election box candidate
party = "No party"
candidate = Write-Ins
votes = 3
percentage = 0.0
change = -0.3Election box majority
votes = 1,711
percentage = 6.2
change = -4.7Election box turnout
votes = 27,472
percentage =
change =
colspan=5 |Republican hold
-

At-Large District

The state unsuccessfully applied to have a fifth member seated in 1871 in the House of Representatives. Following apportionment from the 1870 census, the state was granted an extra seat and an At-large election was used to decide the fifth member. Republican Richard H. Cain defeated Independent Republican L.E. Johnson in the election and became the only member from South Carolina to be elected from an At-large district.

General election results

Election box candidate with party link
party = Republican Party (United States)
candidate = Richard H. Cain
votes = 71,321
percentage = 72.0
change = -28.0
-
bgcolor="#ff00ff"
Independent Republican
Lewis E. Johnson
align="right" | 26,394
align="right" | 26.6
align="right" | +26.6
-Election box candidate
party = "No party"
candidate = Write-Ins
votes = 1,404
percentage = 1.4
change = +1.4Election box majority
votes = 44,927
percentage = 45.4
change = +45.4Election box turnout
votes = 99,119
percentage =
change =
colspan=5 |Republican gain
-

ee also

*United States House of Representatives elections, 1872
*South Carolina gubernatorial election, 1872
*South Carolina's congressional districts

References

*"Report of the Secretary of State to the General Assembly of South Carolina." "Reports and Resolutions of the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina at the Regular Session, 1871-'72". Columbia, SC: Republican Printing Company, 1872, pp. 62, 64-67.