South Carolina's 5th Congressional District

South Carolina's 5th Congressional District

Incumbent

Ralph Norman

Assumed office: June 26, 2017

South Carolina's 5th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives is represented by Ralph Norman (R).

As of the 2020 Census, South Carolina representatives represented an average of 732,102 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented 663,711 residents.

Elections

• 2030
• 2028
• 2026
• 2024
• 2022
• 2020
• 2018

See also: South Carolina's 5th Congressional District election, 2030

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

See also: South Carolina's 5th Congressional District election, 2028

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

See also: South Carolina's 5th Congressional District election, 2026

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

General election for U.S. House South Carolina District 5

Andrew Clough (D), Mallory Dittmer (D), Alex Harper (D), Bill Bledsoe (R), and Wes Climer (R) are running in the general election for U.S. House South Carolina District 5 on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
	Submit photo	Andrew Clough (D)
		Mallory Dittmer (D)
		Alex Harper (D)
		Bill Bledsoe (R)
		Wes Climer (R)

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Ralph Norman (R)

See also: South Carolina's 5th Congressional District election, 2024

General election

General election for U.S. House South Carolina District 5

Incumbent Ralph Norman (R) defeated Evangeline Hundley (D) in the general election for U.S. House South Carolina District 5 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ralph Norman (R)	63.5	228,260
		Evangeline Hundley (D)	36.3	130,592
		Other/Write-in votes	0.2%	557

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 359,409
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Elizabeth Tedder (Independent)

Democratic primary

The Democratic primary scheduled for June 11, 2024, was canceled. Evangeline Hundley (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House South Carolina District 5 without appearing on the ballot.

Republican primary

The Republican primary scheduled for June 11, 2024, was canceled. Incumbent Ralph Norman (R) advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House South Carolina District 5 without appearing on the ballot.

See also: South Carolina's 5th Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House South Carolina District 5

Incumbent Ralph Norman (R) defeated Evangeline Hundley (D) and Larry Gaither (G) in the general election for U.S. House South Carolina District 5 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ralph Norman (R)	64.0	154,725
		Evangeline Hundley (D)	34.5	83,299
	Submit photo	Larry Gaither (G)	1.5	3,547
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1%	136

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 241,707
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Democratic primary

Democratic primary for U.S. House South Carolina District 5

Evangeline Hundley (D) defeated Kevin Eckert (D) in the Democratic primary for U.S. House South Carolina District 5 on June 14, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Evangeline Hundley	57.6	11,257
	Submit photo	Kevin Eckert	42.4	8,274

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 19,531
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary

The Republican primary scheduled for June 14, 2022, was canceled. Incumbent Ralph Norman (R) advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House South Carolina District 5 without appearing on the ballot.

Green Party convention

Green convention for U.S. House South Carolina District 5

Larry Gaither (G) advanced from the Green Party convention for U.S. House South Carolina District 5 on May 7, 2022.

		Candidate
✔	Submit photo	Larry Gaither

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

See also: South Carolina's 5th Congressional District election, 2020

General election

General election for U.S. House South Carolina District 5

Incumbent Ralph Norman (R) defeated Moe Brown (D) in the general election for U.S. House South Carolina District 5 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ralph Norman (R)	60.1	220,006
		Moe Brown (D)	39.9	145,979
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1%	273

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 366,258
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Democratic primary

Democratic primary for U.S. House South Carolina District 5

Moe Brown (D) defeated Sidney Moore (D) in the Democratic primary for U.S. House South Carolina District 5 on June 9, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Moe Brown	67.9	32,018
		Sidney Moore	32.1	15,127

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 47,145
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Mark Ali (D)
• Ramin Mammadov (D)

Republican primary

The Republican primary scheduled for June 9, 2020, was canceled. Incumbent Ralph Norman (R) advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House South Carolina District 5 without appearing on the ballot.

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House South Carolina District 5

Incumbent Ralph Norman (R) defeated Archie Parnell (D) and Michael Chandler (Constitution Party) in the general election for U.S. House South Carolina District 5 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ralph Norman (R)	57.0	141,757
		Archie Parnell (D)	41.5	103,129
	Submit photo	Michael Chandler (Constitution Party)	1.4	3,443
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1%	250

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 248,5790
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Democratic primary

Democratic primary for U.S. House South Carolina District 5

Archie Parnell (D) defeated Sidney Moore (D), Mark Ali (D), and Steve Lough (D) in the Democratic primary for U.S. House South Carolina District 5 on June 12, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Archie Parnell	60.0	16,648
		Sidney Moore	17.2	4,766
		Mark Ali	13.4	3,722
		Steve Lough	9.5	2,627

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 27,763
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary

Republican primary for U.S. House South Carolina District 5

Incumbent Ralph Norman (R) advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House South Carolina District 5 on June 12, 2018.

		Candidate
✔		Ralph Norman

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Previous election results

2017

U.S. House, South Carolina District 5 Special Election, 2017
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Ralph Norman	51%	45,076
	Democratic	Archie Parnell	47.9%	42,341
	American	Josh Thornton	0.4%	319
	Libertarian	Victor Kocher	0.3%	273
	Green	David Kulma	0.3%	242
Total Votes				88,316
Source: South Carolina Secretary of State

See also: South Carolina's 5th Congressional District special election, 2017

Republican Ralph Norman defeated Democrat Archie Parnell and three third-party candidates on June 20, 2017. The election replaced Mick Mulvaney (R), who was confirmed as director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. Compared to the tens of millions spent in Georgia's 6th Congressional District special election, which was held on the same day, fundraising and campaigning were more typical in South Carolina's 5th District. Norman raised $1.25 million between January and May, nearly double Parnell's $763,000 in contributions.

U.S. House, South Carolina District 5 Special Election, 2017
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Ralph Norman	51%	45,076
	Democratic	Archie Parnell	47.9%	42,341
	American	Josh Thornton	0.4%	319
	Libertarian	Victor Kocher	0.3%	273
	Green	David Kulma	0.3%	242
Total Votes				88,316
Source: South Carolina Secretary of State

Ballotpedia compiled the following resources to help voters better understand the policy positions of the candidates prior to the Republican primary runoff election on May 16, 2017 and the general election on June 20, 2017, the same day as a special election runoff to fill the vacancy left by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price representing Georgia's 6th Congressional District:

• An overview of each candidate's career and policy priorities;
• A comparison of their voting records in the South Carolina House of Representatives;
• Interviews with local and national political figures on what distinguishes the candidates; and
• Background information about each candidate's endorsements, campaign spending, and advertising.

Primary elections were held on May 2, 2017, for the Democratic and Republican candidates. Archie Parnell won the Democratic primary, while Ralph Norman and Tommy Pope advanced to the Republican primary runoff held on May 16, 2017.

Unofficial results from May 17 showed that Norman defeated Pope by 203 votes, 50.3 percent to 49.7 percent, in the runoff to win the Republican Party's nomination. Following the certification of the election results by all relevant county election boards on May 18, the results automatically triggered a recount by the state of South Carolina. The recount took place on May 19, with official results showing that former Rep. Ralph Norman defeated Rep. Tommy Pope by a margin of 221 votes.

South Carolina's 5th Congressional District has become a more solid Republican district in recent elections. Mick Mulvaney (R) originally won election to the district in 2010, defeating then-incumbent John Spratt (D) by 10.4 percent. Mulvaney then won re-election in 2012, 2014, and 2016 by margins of 11.1 percent, 21.3 percent, and 20.5 percent, respectively. The presidential vote in the district has followed the same trend in the past three presidential elections. President Donald Trump (R) won the district by 18.5 percent in 2016. Mitt Romney (R) won the district by 11.5 points in 2012, and John McCain (R) won the district by 11.2 percent in 2008. Filing closed in the race on March 13, 2017. Fifteen candidates filed in the race: three Democrats, seven Republicans, and five third-party candidates.

Primary results

U.S. House, South Carolina District 5 Republican Runoff Primary, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Ralph Norman	50.3%	17,823
Tommy Pope	49.7%	17,602
Total Votes		35,425
Source: South Carolina Secretary of State

U.S. House, South Carolina District 5 Republican Primary, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Tommy Pope	30.4%	11,943
Ralph Norman	30.1%	11,808
Tom Mullikin	19.8%	7,759
Chad Connelly	14.1%	5,546
Sheri Few	4.9%	1,930
Kris Wampler	0.5%	197
Ray Craig	0.2%	87
Total Votes		39,270
Source: South Carolina Secretary of State

U.S. House, South Carolina District 5 Democratic Primary, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Archie Parnell	71.3%	13,333
Alexis Frank	21.5%	4,030
Les Murphy	7.2%	1,346
Total Votes		18,709
Source: South Carolina Secretary of State

2016

See also: South Carolina's 5th Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Republican. Incumbent Mick Mulvaney (R) defeated Fran Person (D) and Rudy Barnes Jr. (American) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Mulvaney defeated Ray Craig in the Republican primary, while Person ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. Barnes defeated Larry Gaither at the party convention. The primary elections took place on June 14, 2016.

U.S. House, South Carolina District 5 General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Mick Mulvaney Incumbent	59.2%	161,669
	Democratic	Fran Person	38.7%	105,772
	American	Rudy Barnes Jr.	2%	5,388
	N/A	Write-in	0.1%	177
Total Votes				273,006
Source: South Carolina Secretary of State

U.S. House, South Carolina District 5 Republican Primary, 2016

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Mick Mulvaney Incumbent	78.3%	22,603
Ray Craig	21.7%	6,280
Total Votes		28,883
Source: South Carolina Secretary of State

2014

See also: South Carolina's 5th Congressional District elections, 2014

The 5th Congressional District of South Carolina held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Mick Mulvaney (R) defeated Tom Adams (D) in the general election.

U.S. House, South Carolina District 5 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Mick Mulvaney Incumbent	60.6%	103,078
	Democratic	Tom Adams	39.3%	66,802
	N/A	Write-in	0%	82
Total Votes				169,962
Source: South Carolina State Election Commission

2012

See also: South Carolina's 5th Congressional District elections, 2012

The 5th Congressional District of South Carolina held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. Incumbent Mick Mulvaney won re-election in the district.

U.S. House, South Carolina District 5 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Joyce Knott	44.4%	123,443
	Republican	Mick Mulvaney Incumbent	55.5%	154,324
	N/A	Write-In	0.1%	236
Total Votes				278,003
Source: South Carolina State Election Commission "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

2010
On November 2, 2010, Mick Mulvaney won election to the United States House. He defeated incumbent John Spratt (D) in the general election.

U.S. House, South Carolina District 5 General Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Mick Mulvaney	55.2%	125,834
	Democratic	John Spratt incumbent	44.8%	102,296
	N/A	Write-in	0%	0
Total Votes				228,130

2008
On November 4, 2008, John M. Spratt, Jr. won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Albert F. Spencer (R) and Frank Waggoner (Constitution) in the general election.

U.S. House, South Carolina District 5 General Election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	John M. Spratt, Jr. incumbent	61.6%	188,785
	Republican	Albert F. Spencer	37%	113,282
	Constitution	Frank Waggoner	1.3%	4,093
	N/A	Write-in	0%	125
Total Votes				306,285

2006
On November 7, 2006, John M. Spratt, Jr. won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Ralph Norman (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, South Carolina District 5 General Election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	John M. Spratt, Jr. incumbent	56.9%	99,669
	Republican	Ralph Norman	43.1%	75,422
	N/A	Write-in	0%	63
Total Votes				175,154

2004
On November 2, 2004, John M. Spratt, Jr. won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Albert F. Spencer (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, South Carolina District 5 General Election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	John M. Spratt, Jr. incumbent	63%	152,867
	Republican	Albert F. Spencer	36.9%	89,568
	N/A	Write-in	0%	83
Total Votes				242,518

2002
On November 5, 2002, John M. Spratt, Jr. won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Doug Kendall (L) and Steve Lefemine (Constitution) in the general election.

U.S. House, South Carolina District 5 General Election, 2002
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	John M. Spratt, Jr. incumbent	85.9%	121,912
	Libertarian	Doug Kindall	7.8%	11,013
	Constitution	Steve Lefemine	6.3%	8,930
	N/A	Write-in	0.1%	117
Total Votes				141,972

2000
On November 7, 2000, John M. Spratt, Jr. won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Carl L. Gullick (R) and Tom Campbell (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, South Carolina District 5 General Election, 2000
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	John M. Spratt, Jr. incumbent	58.8%	126,877
	Republican	Carl L. Gullick	39.5%	85,247
	Libertarian	Tom Campbell	1.7%	3,665
	N/A	Write-in	0%	49
Total Votes				215,838

District map

Redistricting

2020-2024

See also: Redistricting in South Carolina after the 2020 census

On May 23, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a lower court's Jan. 6, 2023, decision striking down South Carolina's congressional map as unconstitutional. As a result, this map was used for South Carolina's 2024 congressional elections. According to the U.S. Supreme Court's majority opinion:

“

A plaintiff pressing a vote-dilution claim cannot prevail simply by showing that race played a predominant role in the districting process. Rather, such a plaintiff must show that the State 'enacted a particular voting scheme as a purposeful device to minimize or cancel out the voting potential of racial or ethnic minorities.' ... In other words, the plaintiff must show that the State’s districting plan 'has the purpose and effect' of diluting the minority vote.

”

On May 15, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the South Carolina legislature's appeal of a federal three-judge panel's ruling that the state's 1st Congressional District was unconstitutional. That three-judge panel ruled on January 6, 2023, that the state's 1st Congressional District violated the Voting Rights Act and enjoined the state from conducting future elections using it. The ruling ordered the General Assembly to submit a remedial map for its review by March 31, 2023. South Carolina enacted new congressional district maps on January 26, 2022, when Gov. Henry McMaster (R) signed a proposal approved by the South Carolina House and Senate into law.

On January 19, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 14-8 in favor of the "Amendment 1" proposal. On January 20, the South Carolina Senate approved the congressional district proposal in a 26-15 vote along party lines, with Republicans supporting the proposal and Democrats opposing it. The South Carolina House approved the amended proposal on January 26 in a 72-33 vote along party lines, with Republicans voting for the proposal and Democrats voting against it. This map took effect for South Carolina's 2022 congressional elections. Click here for more information.


How does redistricting in South Carolina work? In South Carolina, congressional and state legislative district boundaries are drawn by the state legislature. These lines are subject to veto by the governor.

South Carolina's legislative redistricting committees adopted redistricting guidelines in 2011. These guidelines recommend that all congressional and state legislative districts be contiguous and "attempt to preserve communities of interest and cores of incumbents' existing districts." Further, the guidelines suggest that districts should "adhere to county, municipal, and voting precinct boundary lines." These guidelines may modified by the legislature at its discretion.

2020

2024

2010-2011

This is the 5th Congressional District of South Carolina after the 2001 redistricting process.

See also: Redistricting in South Carolina after the 2010 census

In 2010, South Carolina was granted an additional seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, bringing the state total to seven. This drastically altered the shape of the existing six districts.

District analysis

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

See also: FiveThirtyEight's elasticity scores

2026

Heading into the 2026 elections, based on results from the 2024 and 2020 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district is R+11. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 11 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made South Carolina's 5th the 115th most Republican district nationally.

2024

Heading into the 2024 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+12. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 12 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made South Carolina's 5th the 124th most Republican district nationally.

Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Donald Trump (R) would have defeated Joe Biden (D) 58.4%-40.2%.

2022

Heading into the 2022 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+12. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 12 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made South Carolina's 5th the 127th most Republican district nationally.

Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Joe Biden (D) would have received 40.2% of the vote in this district and Donald Trump (R) would have received 58.4%.

2018

Heading into the 2018 elections, based on results from the 2016 and 2012 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+9. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 9 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made South Carolina's 5th Congressional District the 142nd most Republican nationally.

FiveThirtyEight's September 2018 elasticity score for states and congressional districts measured "how sensitive it is to changes in the national political environment." This district's elasticity score was 0.90. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 0.90 points toward that party.

See also

• Redistricting in South Carolina
• South Carolina's 5th Congressional District election, 2024
• South Carolina's 5th Congressional District election, 2022
• South Carolina's 5th Congressional District election, 2020
• South Carolina's 5th Congressional District election, 2018

External links

• GovTrack District 5

Footnotes

[show]

South Carolina's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Lindsey Graham (R)

Tim Scott (R)

Representatives

District 1

Nancy Mace (R)

District 2

Joe Wilson (R)

District 3

Sheri Biggs (R)

District 4

William Timmons (R)

District 5

Ralph Norman (R)

District 6

James Clyburn (D)

District 7

Russell Fry (R)

Republican Party (8)

Democratic Party (1)