1966 United States Senate election in South Carolina

1966 United States Senate election in South Carolina

←  1960 November 8, 1966 1972  →

Nominee Strom Thurmond Bradley Morrah Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 271,297 164,955 Percentage 62.19% 37.81%

County results Thurmond:      50-60%     60-70%     70-80% Morrah:      50-60%

U.S. senator before election Strom Thurmond Republican Elected U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond Republican

The 1966 South Carolina United States Senate election was held on November 8, 1966 to select the U.S. Senator from the state of South Carolina simultaneously with the special election to fill out the remainder of Olin D. Johnston's term.

Incumbent Senator Strom Thurmond, who had switched parties from Democratic to Republican in 1964, easily defeated state senator Bradley Morrah in the general election. This was the first time South Carolina popularly elected a Republican senator, and the first time since 1877 that a Republican won this seat.

Democratic primary

The two Democrats who could have defeated Thurmond competed against each other in the special election to serve the remaining two years of Olin D. Johnston's six-year term. As a result, little-known state senator Bradley Morrah of Greenville won the South Carolina Democratic Party primary election on June 14 against John Bolt Culbertson to become the nominee in the general election.

Democratic Primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bradley Morrah	167,401	55.94%
	Democratic	John Bolt Culbertson	131,870	44.06%
Total votes			299,271	100.00%

Republican primary

Senator Strom Thurmond faced no opposition from South Carolina Republicans and avoided a primary election.

General election

Morrah faced an uphill struggle against Senator Thurmond because the Democratic resources were primarily poured into the special election to help Fritz Hollings and in the gubernatorial contest for Robert Evander McNair. Furthermore, Thurmond refused to debate Morrah and Thurmond boasted of the endorsements he received from Southern Democratic Senators Richard Russell, Jr., John C. Stennis, and Herman Talmadge. Morrah was easily dispatched by Thurmond in the general election and he also lost re-election to his state senate seat. He would never again hold public office, which was a routine occurrence for Thurmond's opponents.

Results

South Carolina U.S. Senate Election, 1966

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Strom Thurmond (incumbent)	271,297	62.19%	N/A
	Democratic	Bradley Morrah	164,955	37.81%	−62.16%
Total votes			436,252	100.00%
Majority			106,342	24.38%	−75.56%
Turnout			436,252	49.1%	−6.3%
	Republican hold

See also

• List of United States senators from South Carolina
• United States Senate elections, 1966
• United States Senate special election in South Carolina, 1966
• South Carolina gubernatorial election, 1966

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 II. Columbia, SC: 1967, pp. 16, 41.
• Bass, Jack; Marilyn W. Thompson (1998). Ol' Strom: An Unauthorized Biography of Strom Thurmond. Longstreet. pp. 222–223.