United States presidential elections in South Carolina

Presidential elections in South Carolina

Number of elections	58
Voted Democratic	28
Voted Republican	17
Voted Whig	2
Voted Democratic-Republican	7
Voted other	4 [lower-alpha 1]
Voted for winning candidate	33
Voted for losing candidate	25

Following is a table of United States presidential elections in South Carolina, ordered by year. Since its admission to statehood in 1788, South Carolina has participated in every U.S. presidential election except the election of 1864 during the American Civil War, when the state had seceded to join the Confederacy.

Winners of the state are in bold. The shading refers to the state winner, and not the national winner.

Elections from 1864 to present

Year	Winner (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Other national candidates [lower-alpha 2]	Votes	Percent	Electoral Votes	Notes
2020 [1]	Joe Biden	1,091,541	43.43	Donald Trump	1,385,103	55.11	—			9
2016 [2]	Donald Trump [lower-alpha 3]	1,155,389	54.94	Hillary Clinton	855,373	40.67	—			9
2012 [3]	Barack Obama	865,941	44.09	Mitt Romney	1,071,645	54.56	—			9
2008 [4]	Barack Obama	862,449	44.90	John McCain	1,034,896	53.87	—			8
2004 [5]	George W. Bush	937,974	57.98	John Kerry	661,699	40.90	—			8
2000 [6]	George W. Bush [lower-alpha 3]	785,937	56.84	Al Gore	565,561	40.90	—			8
1996 [7]	Bill Clinton	504,051	43.85	Bob Dole	573,458	49.89	Ross Perot	64,386	5.60	8
1992	Bill Clinton	479,514	39.88	George H. W. Bush	577,507	48.02	Ross Perot	138,872	11.55	8
1988	George H. W. Bush	606,443	61.50	Michael Dukakis	370,554	37.58	—			8
1984	Ronald Reagan	615,539	63.55	Walter Mondale	344,470	35.57	—			8
1980	Ronald Reagan	441,207	49.57	Jimmy Carter	427,560	48.04	John B. Anderson	14,150	1.59	8
1976	Jimmy Carter	450,825	56.17	Gerald Ford	346,140	43.13	—			8
1972	Richard Nixon	478,427	70.58	George McGovern	189,270	27.92	—			8
1968	Richard Nixon	254,062	38.09	Hubert Humphrey	197,486	29.61	George Wallace	215,430	32.30	8
1964	Lyndon B. Johnson	215,700	41.10	Barry Goldwater	309,048	58.89	—			8
1960	John F. Kennedy	198,129	51.24	Richard Nixon	188,558	48.76	—			8
1956	Dwight D. Eisenhower	75,700	25.18	Adlai Stevenson II	136,372	45.37	T. Coleman Andrews/ Unpledged Electors [lower-alpha 4]	88,511	29.45	8
1952	Dwight D. Eisenhower	168,082	49.28	Adlai Stevenson II	173,004	50.72	—			8
1948	Harry S. Truman	34,423	24.14	Thomas E. Dewey	5,386	3.78	Strom Thurmond	102,607	71.97	8
1944	Franklin D. Roosevelt	90,601	87.64	Thomas E. Dewey	4,610	4.46	—			8
1940	Franklin D. Roosevelt	95,470	95.63	Wendell Willkie	4,360	4.37	—			8
1936	Franklin D. Roosevelt	113,791	98.57	Alf Landon	1,646	1.43	—			8
1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	102,347	98.03	Herbert Hoover	1,978	1.89	—			8
1928	Herbert Hoover	5,858	8.54	Al Smith	62,700	91.39	—			9
1924	Calvin Coolidge	1,123	2.21	John W. Davis	49,008	96.56	Robert M. La Follette	620	1.22	9
1920	Warren G. Harding	2,610	3.91	James M. Cox	64,170	96.05	Parley P. Christensen	—	—	9
1916	Woodrow Wilson	61,846	96.71	Charles E. Hughes	1,550	2.42	—			9
1912	Woodrow Wilson	48,357	95.94	Theodore Roosevelt	1,293	2.57	William H. Taft	536	1.06	9
1908	William H. Taft	3,945	5.94	William Jennings Bryan	62,288	93.84	—			9
1904	Theodore Roosevelt	2,554	4.63	Alton B. Parker	52,563	95.36	—			9
1900	William McKinley	3,579	7.04	William Jennings Bryan	47,233	92.96	—			9
1896	William McKinley	9,313	13.51	William Jennings Bryan	58,801	85.3	—			9
1892	Grover Cleveland	54,680	77.56	Benjamin Harrison	13,345	18.93	James B. Weaver	2,407	3.41	9
1888	Benjamin Harrison [lower-alpha 3]	13,736	17.17	Grover Cleveland	65,824	82.28	—			9
1884	Grover Cleveland	69,845	75.25	James G. Blaine	21,730	23.41	—			9
1880	James A. Garfield	57,954	34.13	Winfield S. Hancock	111,236	65.51	James B. Weaver	567	0.33	7
1876	Rutherford B. Hayes [lower-alpha 3]	91,786	50.24	Samuel J. Tilden	90,897	49.76	—			7
1872	Ulysses S. Grant	72,290	75.73	Horace Greeley	22,699	23.78	—			7
1868	Ulysses S. Grant	62,301	57.9	Horatio Seymour	45,237	42.1	—			6
1864	Abraham Lincoln	n/a	n/a	George B. McClellan	n/a	n/a	—			n/a	No vote due to secession.

Election of 1860

The election of 1860 was a complex realigning election in which the breakdown of the previous two-party alignment culminated in four parties each competing for influence in different parts of the country. The result of the election, with the victory of an ardent opponent of slavery, spurred the secession of eleven states and brought about the American Civil War.

Year	Winner (nationally)	Votes	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Electoral Votes
1860	Abraham Lincoln	no popular vote	Stephen A. Douglas	no popular vote	John C. Breckinridge	no popular vote	John Bell	no popular vote	8

Vote allocated by legislature.

Elections from 1788-1789 to 1856

In all elections from 1792 to 1860, South Carolina did not conduct a popular vote. Each Elector was appointed by the state legislature.

The election of 1824 was a complex realigning election following the collapse of the prevailing Democratic-Republican Party, resulting in four different candidates each claiming to carry the banner of the party, and competing for influence in different parts of the country. The election was the only one in history to be decided by the House of Representatives under the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution after no candidate secured a majority of the electoral vote. It was also the only presidential election in which the candidate who received a plurality of electoral votes (Andrew Jackson) did not become president, a source of great bitterness for Jackson and his supporters, who proclaimed the election of Adams a corrupt bargain.

Year	Winner (nationally)	Loser(s) (nationally)	Electoral Votes	Notes
1856	James Buchanan	John C. Frémont Millard Fillmore	8
1852	Franklin Pierce	Winfield Scott John P. Hale	8
1848	Zachary Taylor	Lewis Cass Martin Van Buren	9
1844	James K. Polk	Henry Clay	9
1840	William Henry Harrison	Martin Van Buren	11
1836	Martin Van Buren	Willie Person Mangum Three other candidates [lower-alpha 5]	11	South Carolina was the only state to vote for Mangum.
1832	Andrew Jackson	Henry Clay John Floyd	11	South Carolina was the only state to vote for Floyd.
1828	Andrew Jackson	John Quincy Adams	11
1824	John Quincy Adams	Andrew Jackson Henry Clay William H. Crawford	11
1820	James Monroe	-	11	Monroe effectively ran unopposed.
1816	James Monroe	Rufus King	11
1812	James Madison	DeWitt Clinton	11
1808	James Madison	Charles C. Pinckney	10
1804	Thomas Jefferson	Charles C. Pinckney	10
1800	Thomas Jefferson	John Adams	8
1796	John Adams	Thomas Jefferson	8
1792	George Washington	-	8	Washington effectively ran unopposed.
1788-89	George Washington	-	7	Washington effectively ran unopposed.

See also

• Elections in South Carolina

Notes

1. Strom Thurmond, 1948; John Floyd, 1832; George Washington, 1788-89, 1792.
2. For purposes of these lists, other national candidates are defined as those who won at least one electoral vote, or won at least ten percent of the vote in multiple states.
3. Won the electoral college while losing the popular vote
4. Was allied with a slate of unpledged electors in Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina
5. Three other candidates ran and received electoral votes nationally as part of the unsuccessful Whig strategy to defeat Martin Van Buren by running four candidates with local appeal in different regions of the country. The others were William Henry Harrison, Hugh Lawson White, and Daniel Webster. However, there was no popular vote in South Carolina, and this was the only state where Mangum was put forth as a candidate.

References

1. "Presidential Election Results: Biden Wins". The New York Times . 3 November 2020. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
2. 2016 official Federal Election Commission report.
3. 2012 official Federal Election Commission report.
4. 2008 official Federal Election Commission report.
5. "Federal Elections 2004: Election Results for the U.S. President, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives" (PDF). Federal Elections Commission. May 2005.
6. "2000 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
7. "1996 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 2018-03-05.