# 2022 United States Senate election in South Carolina

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The 2022 United States Senate election in South Carolina was held on November 8, 2022, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the state of South Carolina. Incumbent Republican Senator Tim Scott won reelection to a second full term, defeating state representative Krystle Matthews. This was the third consecutive election for this seat where both major party nominees were black.
Scott was appointed to the U.S. Senate in 2013 following the resignation of fellow Republican Jim DeMint. With 61.1% of the vote, he won the 2014 special election to serve the remainder of DeMint's term. Scott was then re-elected to a full six-year term in 2016 with 60.6% of the vote.
Primary elections in South Carolina were held on June 14, 2022. Scott won the Republican primary unopposed, while Matthews won the Democratic primary in a June 28 runoff.
Scott has said this election would be his last, and will not run again in 2028.

## Republican primary
### Candidates
#### Nominee

* Tim Scott, incumbent U.S. Senator (2013–present)

#### Withdrawn

* Timothy Swain (opted to run for State House seat 121, defeated in primary)

### Endorsements

Executive Branch officials
* Nikki Haley, former United States Ambassador to the United Nations (2017–2018) and former governor of South Carolina (2011–2017)
* Mike Pence, 48th vice president of the United States (2017–2021)
* Mike Pompeo, former U.S. Secretary of State (2018–2021)
* Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States (2017–2021)
U.S. Senators
* Lindsey Graham, U.S. Senator from South Carolina (2003–present)
* Mitch McConnell, Minority Leader of the United States Senate (2021-present), U.S. Senator from Kentucky (1985–present)
U.S. Representatives
* Jeff Duncan, U.S. Representative from South Carolina's 3rd congressional district (2011–present)
* Nancy Mace, U.S. Representative from South Carolina's 1st congressional district (2021–present)
* Ralph Norman, U.S. Representative from South Carolina's 5th congressional district (2017–present)
* Tom Rice, U.S. Representative from South Carolina's 7th congressional district (2013–2023)
* William Timmons, U.S. Representative from South Carolina's 4th congressional district (2019–present)
* Joe Wilson, U.S. Representative from South Carolina's 2nd congressional district (2001–present)
Individuals
* Drew McKissick, Chair of the South Carolina Republican Party (2017–present)
Organizations
* Black America's Political Action Committee
* Pro-Israel America

## Democratic primary
### Candidates
#### Nominee

* Krystle Matthews, former state representative (2018–2022)

#### Eliminated in runoff

* Catherine Fleming Bruce, author and activist

#### Eliminated in primary

* Angela Geter, former chair of the Spartanburg County Democratic Party, candidate for South Carolina House of Representatives in 2017 and South Carolina Senate in 2024

### First round
#### Results

Democratic primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Catherine Fleming Bruce | 59,777 | 34.69% |
| | Democratic | Krystle Matthews | 57,278 | 33.24% |
| | Democratic | Angela Geter | 55,281 | 32.08% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 172,336 | 100.0% |

### Runoff
#### Results

Democratic primary runoff results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Krystle Matthews | 25,300 | 55.77% |
| | Democratic | Catherine Fleming Bruce | 20,064 | 44.23% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 45,364 | 100.0% |

## General election
### Predictions

| Source | Ranking | As of |
| The Cook Political Report | Solid R | November 19, 2021 |
| Inside Elections | Solid R | January 7, 2022 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball | Safe R | November 3, 2021 |
| Politico | Solid R | April 1, 2022 |
| RCP | Safe R | January 10, 2022 |
| Fox News | Solid R | May 12, 2022 |
| DDHQ | Solid R | July 20, 2022 |
| 538 | Solid R | June 30, 2022 |
| The Economist | Safe R | September 7, 2022 |

### Endorsements

Executive Branch officials
* Nikki Haley, former United States Ambassador to the United Nations (2017–2018) and former governor of South Carolina (2011–2017)
* Mike Pence, 48th vice president of the United States (2017–2021)
* Mike Pompeo, former U.S. Secretary of State (2018–2021)
* Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States (2017–2021)
U.S. Senators
* Lindsey Graham, U.S. Senator from South Carolina (2003–present)
* Mitch McConnell, U.S. Senate Minority Leader from Kentucky (1985–present)
U.S. Representatives
* Jeff Duncan, U.S. Representative from South Carolina's 3rd congressional district (2011–present)
* Nancy Mace, U.S. Representative from South Carolina's 1st congressional district (2021–present)
* Ralph Norman, U.S. Representative from South Carolina's 5th congressional district (2017–present)
* Tom Rice, U.S. Representative from South Carolina's 7th congressional district (2013–2023)
* William Timmons, U.S. Representative from South Carolina's 4th congressional district (2019–present)
* Joe Wilson, U.S. Representative from South Carolina's 2nd congressional district (2001–present)
Individuals
* Drew McKissick, Chair of the South Carolina Republican Party (2017–present)
Organizations
* American Israel Public Affairs Committee
* Black America's PAC
* Campaign for Working Families
* Citizens Against Government Waste
* ClearPath Action Fund
* National Rifle Association - Political Victory Fund
* National Right to Life Committee
* Pro-Israel America
* Stand for America PAC

### Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Tim Scott (R) | Krystle Matthews (D) | Larry Adams Jr. (I) | Other | Undecided |
| Echelon Insights | August 31 – September 7, 2022 | 600 (RV) | ± 5.1% | 54% | 37% | – | – | 9% |
| Moore Information Group (R) | March 8–13, 2022 | 500 (LV) | ± 4.0% | 57% | 25% | 5% | 2% | 11% |

### Results

2022 United States Senate election in South Carolina :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Tim Scott (incumbent) | 1,066,274 | 62.88% | +2.31% |
| | Democratic | Krystle Matthews | 627,616 | 37.01% | +0.08% |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 1,812 | 0.11% | +0.02% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,695,702 | 100.00% | N/A |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

#### Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

* Hampton (largest city: Hampton)
* Jasper (largest city: Hardeeville)
* Marlboro (largest city: Bennettsville)

#### By congressional district

Scott won 6 of 7 congressional districts.
| District | Scott | Matthews | Representative |
| 1st | 62% | 38% | Nancy Mace |
| 2nd | 62% | 38% | Joe Wilson |
| 3rd | 75% | 25% | Jeff Duncan |
| 4th | 68% | 32% | William Timmons |
| 5th | 64% | 36% | Ralph Norman |
| 6th | 41% | 59% | Jim Clyburn |
| 7th | 67% | 33% | Tom Rice (117th Congress) |
| 7th | 67% | 33% | Russell Fry (118th Congress) |