1956 United States Senate special election in South Carolina

1956 United States Senate special election in South Carolina
	County results; Thurmond: 90-100%
U.S. senator before election; Thomas A. Wofford ; Democratic	Elected U.S. Senator; Strom Thurmond ; Democratic

Last updated July 23, 2025

The 1956 South Carolina United States Senate special election was held on November 6, 1956, to select the U.S. Senator from the state of South Carolina simultaneously with the regular Senate election. The election resulted from the resignation of Senator Strom Thurmond on April 4, 1956, who was keeping a campaign pledge he had made in the 1954 election. Thurmond was unopposed in his bid to complete the remaining four years of the term. Thurmond would remain as Senator for nearly fifty years until he retired in 2003.

Democratic primary

Senator Strom Thurmond faced no opposition from South Carolina Democrats and avoided a primary election. There was a possibility that Governor George Bell Timmerman Jr. might enter the race, but Thurmond was held in such high regard by the voters that there would have been no chance of defeating him. With no challenge to the remainder of the term, Thurmond did not conduct a campaign and rejoined his old law firm in Aiken until he returned to the Senate after the special election.

Election results

South Carolina U.S. Senate Special Election, 1956
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Strom Thurmond	245,371	100.00%	+36.9
Majority			245,371	100.00%	+73.7
Turnout			245,371	32.2	+5.9
	Democratic hold

References

"Supplemental Report of the Secretary of State to the General Assembly of South Carolina." Reports and Resolutions of South Carolina to the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina. Volume I. Columbia, SC: 1957, pp. 8–9.
Bass, Jack; Marilyn W. Thompson (1998). Ol' Strom: An Unauthorized Biography of Strom Thurmond. Longstreet. p. 155.

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See also: Political party strength in South Carolina

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1956 United States Senate special election in South Carolina

Contents

Democratic primary

Election results

References

See also