1914 United States Senate election in South Carolina

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1914 Democratic Senate primary in South Carolina

← 1909 August 25, 1914 1920 →
 
Nominee Ellison D. Smith Cole Blease
Party Democratic Democratic
Popular vote 72,256 55,908
Percentage 54.66% 42.29%

U.S. senator before election

Ellison D. Smith
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Ellison D. Smith
Democratic

The 1914 United States Senate election in South Carolina was held on November 3, 1914, to select the U.S. Senator from the state of South Carolina. It was the first election in South Carolina in which the voters were able to choose the candidate in the general election. Incumbent Democratic Senator Ellison D. Smith won the Democratic primary and defeated nominal opposition in the general election to win another six-year term.

Democratic primary

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Coleman Livingston Blease, Governor of South Carolina from 1910 to 1914, was barred from seeking another term by the South Carolina constitution. He wanted to continue holding a public office so he challenged incumbent Senator Ellison D. Smith in the Democratic primary election for U.S. Senator. However, the voters were tired of Blease and he and those allied with him suffered defeat in the 1914 Democratic primaries on August 25.

South Carolina U.S. Senate Primary Election, 1914
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Ellison D. Smith (incumbent) 72,256 54.66%
Democratic Coleman Livingston Blease 55,908 42.29%
Democratic Lang D. Jennings 2,400 1.82%
Democratic William P. Pollock 1,630 1.23%

General election campaign

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Since the end of Reconstruction in 1877, the Democratic Party dominated the politics of South Carolina and its statewide candidates were never seriously challenged. Smith did not campaign for the general election as there was no chance of defeat.

Results

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South Carolina U.S. Senate Election, 1914
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Ellison D. Smith (incumbent) 32,950 99.73% N/A
Socialist James H. Roberts 89 0.27% N/A
Majority 32,861 99.46% N/A
Turnout 33,039
Democratic hold

See also

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References

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  • Jordan, Frank E. The Primary State: A History of the Democratic Party in South Carolina, 1876-1962. pp. 63–64.
  • "Report of the Secretary of State to the General Assembly of South Carolina. Part II." Reports and Resolutions of the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina. Volume IV. Columbia, SC: 1915, p. 339.