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United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina, 2012
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South Carolina's 2012 elections U.S. House • State Senate • State House • State ballot measures • Candidate ballot access |
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June 12, 2012 |
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The 2012 U.S. House of Representatives elections in South Carolina took place on November 6, 2012. Voters elected seven candidates to serve in the U.S. House, one from each of the state's seven congressional districts.
| Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
|---|---|---|
Primary: South Carolina has an open primary system, in which any registered voter can choose which party's primary to vote in, without having to be a member of that party. In South Carolina's June 26 primary runoffs, however, voters must vote in the same party whose primary they voted in.
Voter registration: Voters had to register to vote in the primary by May 12. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 6.[1]
- See also: South Carolina elections, 2012
The Center for Voting and Democracy (Fairvote) projected that Democrats would win one districts while Republicans would win five seats. It did not make a projection for the remaining district.[2]
Primary competitiveness
South Carolina had the 38th most competitive congressional primaries in 2012, with 35.71% of major party primaries having been contested (5 out of 14). The national average was 54.31%.
Seven U.S. House incumbents ran for re-election in South Carolina in 2012. 2 of those 7 (28.57%) faced a primary challenger. Nationwide, 200 out of the 386 incumbents seeking re-election faced a primary challenger (51.81%).
Partisan breakdown
Heading into the November 6 election, the Republican Party held five of the six Congressional seats from South Carolina. However, the state gained one seat after the 2010 census and elected 7 representatives.
| Members of the U.S. House from South Carolina -- Partisan Breakdown | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 2012 | After the 2012 Election | |
| Democratic Party | 1 | 1 | |
| Republican Party | 5 | 6 | |
| Total | 6 | 7 | |
Incumbents
Heading into the 2012 election, the incumbents for the six congressional districts were:
| Name | Party | District |
|---|---|---|
| James E. Clyburn |  Democratic |
6 |
| Jeff Duncan |  Republican |
3 |
| Joe Wilson | Republican |
2 |
| Mick Mulvaney | Republican |
5 |
| Tim Scott | Republican |
1 |
| Trey Gowdy | Republican |
4 |
Margin of victory for winners
There were a total of 7 seats up for election in 2012 in South Carolina. The following table shows the margin of victory for each district winner, which is calculated by examining the percentage difference between the top-two vote getters. If the race was uncontested, the margin of victory is listed as 100%.
| District | Winner | Margin of Victory | Total Vote | Top Opponent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Carolina, District 1 |  Timothy Scott |
26.3% | 290,013 | Bobbie Rose |
| South Carolina, District 2 | Joe Wilson |
92.5% | 203,718 | Write-In |
| South Carolina, District 3 | Jeff Duncan |
33.3% | 254,763 | Brian Doyle |
| South Carolina, District 4 | Trey Gowdy |
31.2% | 266,884 | Deb Morrow |
| South Carolina, District 5 | Mick Mulvaney |
11.1% | 278,003 | Joyce Knott |
| South Carolina, District 6 |  James Clyburn |
88.1% | 233,615 | Nammu Y Muhammad |
| South Carolina, District 7 | Tom Rice |
11.1% | 275,738 | Gloria Bromell Tinubu |
General election candidates
| District | General Election Candidates | Incumbent | 2012 Winner | Partisan Switch? |
| 1st | Bobbie Rose Timothy Scott Keith Blandford |
Tim Scott | Timothy Scott |
No |
| 2nd | Joe Wilson |
Joe Wilson | Joe Wilson |
No |
| 3rd | [[Brian Doyle]] Jeff Duncan |
Jeff Duncan | Jeff Duncan |
No |
| 4th | Deb Morrow Trey Gowdy Jeff Sumerel |
Trey Gowdy | Trey Gowdy |
No |
| 5th | Joyce Knott Mick Mulvaney |
Mick Mulvaney | Mick Mulvaney |
No |
| 6th | James ClyburnNammu Y Muhammad |
Jim Clyburn | James Clyburn |
No |
| 7th | Gloria Bromell Tinubu Tom Rice |
New District | Tom Rice |
N/A |
Candidates
Note: Election results were added on election night as races were called. Vote totals were added after official election results had been certified. Click here for more information about Ballotpedia's election coverage plan. Please contact us about errors in this list.
1st Congressional District
General election candidates
June 12, 2012, primary results
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2nd Congressional District
General election candidates
- No candidates filed to run
- Joe Wilson
June 12, 2012, primary results
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3rd Congressional District
General election candidates
June 12, 2012, primary results
Democratic Primary
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4th Congressional District
General election candidates
June 12, 2012, primary results
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5th Congressional District
General election candidates
June 12, 2012, primary results
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6th Congressional District
General election candidates
- James Clyburn
- No candidates filed to run
- Nammu Y Muhammad
June 12, 2012, primary results
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7th Congressional District
Note: The top two candidates in each party advanced to a runoff election on June 26, 2012.
General election candidates
June 26, 2012, Run-off election candidates
June 12, 2012, primary results
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See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ South Carolina Votes, "2012 Election Calendar," accessed July 27, 2012
- ↑ , "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in South Carolina," September 2012
- ↑ opensecrets.org "South Carolina" accessed February 2, 2012
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 SC Now "Tinubu wins Democratic runoff; Rice beats Bauer for GOP spot," June 26, 2012
- ↑ scnow.com "Brittain announces candidacy for S.C.'s new 7th Congressional District" accessed February 2, 2012
- ↑ scnow.com "Rep. Ted Vick drops out of 7th Congressional race" accessed June 2, 2012
- ↑ The Sun News Who's the frontrunner for the 7th Congressional District? December 28, 2011
- ↑ wistv'.com "7th Congressional district candidates answer questions" accessed February 2, 2012
- ↑ fitsnews.com "Chad Prosser announces congressional campaign" accessed February 2, 2012
- ↑ fitsnews.com "GOP Releases List Of Congressional Candidates" accessed June 4, 2012
- ↑ CarolinaLive "Wilkes withdraws, endorses Bauer for 7th Congressional race" accessed April 9, 2012
