# 1968 United States presidential election in South Carolina

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The 1968 United States presidential election in South Carolina took place on November 5, 1968. All 50 states and the District of Columbia were part of the 1968 United States presidential election. South Carolina voters chose 8 electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
For six decades up to 1950 South Carolina was a one-party state dominated by the Democratic Party. The Republican Party had been moribund due to the disfranchisement of blacks and the complete absence of other support bases as South Carolina completely lacked upland or German refugee whites opposed to secession. Between 1900 and 1948, no Republican presidential candidate ever obtained more than seven percent of the total presidential vote – a vote which in 1924 reached as low as 6.6 percent of the total voting-age population or approximately 15 percent of the voting-age white population. South Carolina was the only state to swing more Democratic compared to 1964, largely due to Wallace's presence on the ballot. 48% of white voters supported Nixon, 41% supported Wallace, and 12% supported Humphrey. South Carolina was the only Deep South state not to support Wallace in this election.

## Campaign

Although Nixon ignored the other Deep South states because he knew that he had no chance of competing with George Wallace, in South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond, believing Wallace could not win the election and that northeastern urban liberalism would continue to dominate if he endorsed Wallace, took the stump for Nixon in South Carolina. The result was that Wallace's support in South Carolina plummeted rapidly, although in early September the Alabama governor predicted he would carry the state, an opinion backed up by early polling in mid-September. Other polls, however, had the race very close between the three candidates. Nixon himself campaigned in the state, aided by Thurmond, at the end of September.

### Predictions

The following newspapers gave these predictions about how South Carolina would vote in the 1968 presidential election:
| Source | Ranking | As of |
| Special to The New York Times | Tilt I (flip) | September 8, 1968 |
| Lebanon Daily News | Lean I (flip) | September 17, 1968 |
| Daily Press | Lean I (flip) | October 11, 1968 |
| The Charlotte News | Lean I (flip) | October 12, 1968 |
| The Record | Tilt I (flip) | October 21, 1968 |
| Shreveport Times | Lean I (flip) | November 3, 1968 |
| The Selma Times-Journal | Lean I (flip) | November 3, 1968 |
| The New York Times | Tossup | November 4, 1968 |

## Results

1968 United States presidential election in South Carolina :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes |
| | Republican | Richard Nixon | 254,062 | 38.09% | 8 |
| | Independent | George Wallace | 215,430 | 32.30% | 0 |
| | Democratic | Hubert Humphrey | 197,486 | 29.61% | 0 |
| | Write-ins | Various candidates | 4 | 0.00% | 0 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | 666,978 | 100.00% | 8 |
| Voter turnout | Voter turnout | Voter turnout | Voter turnout | Voter turnout | – |

### Results by county

| County | Richard Nixon Republican | Richard Nixon Republican | George Wallace American Independent | George Wallace American Independent | Hubert Humphrey Democratic | Hubert Humphrey Democratic | Margin | Margin | Total votes cast |
| County | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | Total votes cast |
| Abbeville | 1,213 | 20.77% | 3,201 | 54.82% | 1,425 | 24.40% | -1,776 | -30.42% | 5,839 |
| Aiken | 12,264 | 44.76% | 8,815 | 32.17% | 6,319 | 23.06% | 3,449 | 12.59% | 27,398 |
| Allendale | 997 | 29.72% | 820 | 24.44% | 1,538 | 45.84% | -541 | -16.12% | 3,355 |
| Anderson | 5,661 | 24.33% | 12,384 | 53.23% | 5,218 | 22.43% | -6,723 | -28.90% | 23,263 |
| Bamberg | 1,327 | 27.70% | 1,618 | 33.78% | 1,845 | 38.52% | 227 | 4.74% | 4,790 |
| Barnwell | 1,849 | 31.25% | 2,351 | 39.74% | 1,716 | 29.01% | -502 | -8.49% | 5,916 |
| Beaufort | 2,983 | 36.29% | 1,498 | 18.22% | 3,740 | 45.49% | -757 | -9.20% | 8,221 |
| Berkeley | 4,021 | 28.89% | 4,808 | 34.55% | 5,089 | 36.56% | 281 | 2.01% | 13,918 |
| Calhoun | 885 | 28.74% | 978 | 31.76% | 1,216 | 39.49% | 238 | 7.73% | 3,079 |
| Charleston | 24,282 | 43.45% | 13,255 | 23.72% | 18,343 | 32.83% | 5,939 | 10.62% | 55,880 |
| Cherokee | 2,853 | 27.19% | 5,642 | 53.77% | 1,998 | 19.04% | -2,789 | -26.58% | 10,493 |
| Chester | 2,862 | 33.71% | 2,762 | 32.54% | 2,865 | 33.75% | -3 | -0.04% | 8,489 |
| Chesterfield | 2,564 | 25.47% | 4,324 | 42.95% | 3,180 | 31.59% | -1,144 | -11.36% | 10,068 |
| Clarendon | 2,201 | 27.85% | 2,097 | 26.53% | 3,606 | 45.62% | -1,405 | -17.77% | 7,904 |
| Colleton | 2,824 | 34.67% | 2,670 | 32.78% | 2,651 | 32.55% | 154 | 1.89% | 8,145 |
| Darlington | 4,947 | 35.38% | 5,231 | 37.42% | 3,803 | 27.20% | -284 | -2.04% | 13,981 |
| Dillon | 2,396 | 35.73% | 2,132 | 31.79% | 2,178 | 32.48% | 218 | 3.25% | 6,706 |
| Dorchester | 3,354 | 31.21% | 3,539 | 32.93% | 3,855 | 35.87% | 316 | 2.94% | 10,748 |
| Edgefield | 1,688 | 43.07% | 1,006 | 25.67% | 1,225 | 31.26% | 463 | 11.81% | 3,919 |
| Fairfield | 1,619 | 27.14% | 1,336 | 22.39% | 3,011 | 50.47% | -1,392 | -23.33% | 5,966 |
| Florence | 8,917 | 36.19% | 7,642 | 31.02% | 8,079 | 32.79% | 838 | 3.40% | 24,638 |
| Georgetown | 3,269 | 32.62% | 2,642 | 26.36% | 4,110 | 41.01% | -841 | -8.39% | 10,021 |
| Greenville | 31,652 | 52.91% | 15,241 | 25.48% | 12,928 | 21.61% | 16,411 | 27.43% | 59,821 |
| Greenwood | 4,891 | 33.37% | 6,024 | 41.10% | 3,741 | 25.52% | -1,133 | -7.73% | 14,658 |
| Hampton | 1,671 | 31.95% | 1,452 | 27.76% | 2,107 | 40.29% | -436 | -8.34% | 5,230 |
| Horry | 3,924 | 26.97% | 6,701 | 46.06% | 3,924 | 26.97% | -2,777 | -19.09% | 14,549 |
| Jasper | 633 | 20.31% | 1,081 | 34.69% | 1,402 | 44.99% | 321 | 10.30% | 3,116 |
| Kershaw | 4,079 | 38.56% | 3,960 | 37.44% | 2,539 | 24.00% | 119 | 1.12% | 10,578 |
| Lancaster | 4,874 | 37.75% | 4,886 | 37.84% | 3,151 | 24.41% | -12 | -0.09% | 12,911 |
| Laurens | 4,813 | 39.75% | 4,279 | 35.34% | 3,016 | 24.91% | 534 | 4.41% | 12,108 |
| Lee | 1,219 | 22.23% | 2,113 | 38.54% | 2,151 | 39.23% | 38 | 0.69% | 5,483 |
| Lexington | 12,204 | 48.49% | 8,907 | 35.39% | 4,058 | 16.12% | 3,297 | 13.10% | 25,169 |
| Marion | 2,512 | 36.85% | 1,484 | 21.77% | 2,821 | 41.38% | -309 | -4.53% | 6,817 |
| Marlboro | 2,024 | 31.34% | 2,140 | 33.14% | 2,294 | 35.52% | 154 | 2.38% | 6,458 |
| McCormick | 466 | 21.08% | 757 | 34.24% | 988 | 44.69% | 231 | 10.45% | 2,211 |
| Newberry | 4,538 | 42.35% | 3,734 | 34.85% | 2,444 | 22.81% | 804 | 7.50% | 10,716 |
| Oconee | 2,618 | 27.94% | 4,742 | 50.61% | 2,009 | 21.44% | -2,124 | -22.67% | 9,369 |
| Orangeburg | 5,144 | 24.20% | 7,144 | 33.60% | 8,971 | 42.20% | 1,827 | 8.60% | 21,259 |
| Pickens | 6,873 | 51.63% | 4,424 | 33.23% | 2,016 | 15.14% | 2,449 | 18.40% | 13,313 |
| Richland | 26,215 | 50.96% | 7,030 | 13.67% | 18,198 | 35.37% | 8,017 | 15.59% | 51,445 |
| Saluda | 1,466 | 30.53% | 2,136 | 44.48% | 1,200 | 24.99% | -670 | -13.95% | 4,802 |
| Spartanburg | 18,183 | 38.69% | 17,346 | 36.91% | 11,467 | 24.40% | 837 | 1.78% | 46,996 |
| Sumter | 5,451 | 33.43% | 4,754 | 29.15% | 6,103 | 37.42% | -652 | -3.99% | 16,308 |
| Union | 3,011 | 30.50% | 4,590 | 46.50% | 2,271 | 23.00% | -1,579 | -16.00% | 9,872 |
| Williamsburg | 3,029 | 28.08% | 2,652 | 24.59% | 5,106 | 47.33% | -2,077 | -19.25% | 10,787 |
| York | 7,596 | 37.48% | 7,102 | 35.04% | 5,571 | 27.49% | 494 | 2.44% | 20,269 |
| Totals | 254,062 | 38.09% | 215,430 | 32.30% | 197,486 | 29.61% | 38,632 | 5.79% | 666,982 |

### Results by congressional district

Nixon won three out of six congressional districts, Wallace won two, and Humphrey won one. Wallace and Nixon both won two districts held by Democrats.
| District | Nixon | Humphrey | Wallace |
| 1st | 36.9% | 36.3% | 26.8% |
| 2nd | 42.7% | 32.2% | 25.1% |
| 3rd | 26.1% | 23% | 40.9% |
| 4th | 46% | 31% | 23% |
| 5th | 33.3% | 29.2% | 37.5% |
| 6th | 32.4% | 34.7% | 32.9% |