South Carolina Secretary of State election, 2018

	2022 → ← 2014
South Carolina Secretary of State
	Democratic primary; Republican primary; General election;
Election details
	Filing deadline: March 30, 2018
	Primary: June 12, 2018; Primary runoff: June 26, 2018 (if needed); General: November 6, 2018; Pre-election incumbent(s):; Mark Hammond (Republican)
How to vote
	Poll times: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Voting in South Carolina
Ballotpedia analysis
	Federal and state primary competitiveness; State executive elections in 2018; Impact of term limits in 2018; State government trifectas; State government triplexes; Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2018
South Carolina; executive elections
	Governor; Lieutenant governor; Attorney general; Secretary of state; Treasurer; Comptroller; Agriculture commissioner; Superintendent of education

South Carolina held an election for secretary of state on November 6, 2018. The candidate filing deadline was March 30, 2018.

For more information about the Democratic primary, click here.
For more information about the Republican primary, click here.
For more information about secretary of state elections in 2018, click here.

SETTING THE STAGE
Heading into the 2018 election, the secretary of state of South Carolina was Mark Hammond (R), who was first elected in 2002 and was re-elected in 2006, 2010, and 2014. Hammond announced on May 2, 2017, that he would seek election to a fifth term in 2018.
In 2018, South Carolina was under a Republican trifecta. It had held this status since former Gov. Mark Sanford (R) took office in 2003. South Carolina was also a Republican triplex.
South Carolina was won by the Republican candidate in each of the presidential elections between 2000 and 2016. The widest margin of victory was George W. Bush's 17 percent margin in 2004, while the narrowest was John McCain's nine percent margin in 2008.

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for South Carolina Secretary of State

Incumbent Mark Hammond defeated Melvin Whittenburg in the general election for South Carolina Secretary of State on November 6, 2018.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Mark Hammond (R)	57.1	970,576
	Melvin Whittenburg (D)	42.8	727,952
	Other/Write-in votes	0.1	968

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,699,496
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for South Carolina Secretary of State

Melvin Whittenburg advanced from the Democratic primary for South Carolina Secretary of State on June 12, 2018.

		Candidate
✔		Melvin Whittenburg

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for South Carolina Secretary of State

Incumbent Mark Hammond defeated Joshua Putnam, Nelson Faerber, and Kerry Wood in the Republican primary for South Carolina Secretary of State on June 12, 2018.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Mark Hammond	65.4	218,215
	Joshua Putnam	13.4	44,639
	Nelson Faerber	12.5	41,570
	Kerry Wood	8.7	29,075

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 333,499
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

State overview

Partisan control

This section details the partisan control of federal and state positions in South Carolina heading into the 2018 elections.

Congressional delegation

Following the 2016 elections, Republicans held both U.S. Senate seats in South Carolina.
Republicans held six of seven U.S. House seats in South Carolina.

State executives

As of September 2018, Republicans held eight of 16 state executive positions and the remaining eight positions were officially nonpartisan.
The governor of South Carolina was Republican Henry McMaster. The state held an election for governor and lieutenant governor on November 6, 2018.

State legislature

Republicans controlled both chambers of the South Carolina State Legislature. They had a 80-44 majority in the state House and a 27-19 majority in the state Senate.

Trifecta status

South Carolina was a Republican trifecta, meaning that the Republican Party controlled the state government. Henry McMaster (R) served as governor, while Republicans controlled the state legislature.

2018 elections

See also: South Carolina elections, 2018

South Carolina held elections for the following positions in 2018:

Demographics

Demographic data for South Carolina
	South Carolina	U.S.
Total population:	4,894,834	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	30,061	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	67.2%	73.6%
Black/African American:	27.5%	12.6%
Asian:	1.4%	5.1%
Native American:	0.3%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.1%	0.2%
Two or more:	2%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	5.3%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	85.6%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	25.8%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$45,483	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	22%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in South Carolina. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

As of July 2016, South Carolina's three largest cities were Charleston (pop. est. 135,000), Columbia (pop. est. 133,000), and North Charleston (pop. est. 111,000).^[1]

State election history

This section provides an overview of federal and state elections in South Carolina from 2000 to 2016. All data comes from the South Carolina Election Commission.

Historical elections

Presidential elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the presidential election in South Carolina every year from 2000 to 2016.

Election results (President of the United States), South Carolina 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Donald Trump	54.9%	Hillary Clinton	40.7%	14.2%
2012	Mitt Romney	54.6%	Barack Obama	44.1%	10.5%
2008	John McCain	53.9%	Barack Obama	44.9%	9.0%
2004	George W. Bush	58.0%	John Kerry	40.9%	17.1%
2000	George W. Bush	56.8%	Al Gore	40.9%	15.9%

U.S. Senate elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of U.S. Senate races in South Carolina from 2000 to 2016. Every state has two Senate seats, and each seat goes up for election every six years. The terms of the seats are staggered so that roughly one-third of the seats are up every two years.

Election results (U.S. Senator), South Carolina 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Tim Scott	60.6%	Thomas Dixon	36.9%	23.7%
2014^[2]	Tim Scott	61.1%	Joyce Dickerson	37.1%	24.0%
2014	Lindsey Graham	54.3%	Brad Hutto	38.8%	15.5%
2010	Jim DeMint	61.5%	Alvin Greene	27.7%	33.8%
2008	Lindsey Graham	57.5%	Bob Conley	42.3%	15.2%
2004	Jim DeMint	53.7%	Inez Tenenbaum	44.1%	9.6%
2002	Lindsey Graham	54.4%	Alex Sanders	44.2%	10.2%

Gubernatorial elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the four gubernatorial elections held between 2000 and 2016. Gubernatorial elections are held every four years in South Carolina.

Election results (Governor), South Carolina 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2014	Nikki Haley	55.9%	Vincent Sheheen	41.4%	14.5%
2010	Nikki Haley	51.4%	Vincent Sheheen	46.9%	4.5%
2006	Mark Sanford	55.1%	Kerry Healey	44.8%	10.3%
2002	Mark Sanford	52.8%	Jim Hodges	47.0%	5.8%

Congressional delegation, 2000-2016

This chart shows the number of Democrats and Republicans who were elected to represent South Carolina in the U.S. House from 2000 to 2016. Elections for U.S. House seats are held every two years.

Congressional delegation, South Carolina 2000-2016
Year	Republicans	Republicans (%)	Democrats	Democrats (%)	Balance of power
2016	6	85.7%	1	14.3%	R+5
2014	6	85.7%	1	14.3%	R+5
2012	6	85.7%	1	14.3%	R+5
2010	5	83.3%	1	16.7%	R+4
2008	4	66.7%	2	33.3%	R+2
2006	4	66.7%	2	33.3%	R+2
2004	4	66.7%	2	33.3%	R+2
2002	4	66.7%	2	33.3%	R+2
2000	4	66.7%	2	33.3%	R+2

Trifectas, 1992-2017

A state government trifecta occurs when one party controls both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office.

South Carolina Party Control: 1992-2025
No Democratic trifectas • Twenty-three years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25
Governor	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
Senate	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
House	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

Pivot Counties

See also: Pivot Counties by state

Five of 46 South Carolina counties—10.9 percent—are Pivot Counties. Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

Counties won by Trump in 2016 and Obama in 2012 and 2008
County	Trump margin of victory in 2016	Obama margin of victory in 2012	Obama margin of victory in 2008
Barnwell County, South Carolina	5.16%	5.33%	1.65%
Calhoun County, South Carolina	2.83%	4.31%	3.55%
Chester County, South Carolina	4.83%	10.58%	8.30%
Colleton County, South Carolina	8.49%	0.19%	0.53%
McCormick County, South Carolina	3.32%	3.60%	6.08%

In the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump (R) won South Carolina with 54.9 percent of the vote. Hillary Clinton (D) received 40.7 percent. In presidential elections between 1900 and 2016, South Carolina cast votes for the winning presidential candidate 53.3 percent of the time. In that same time frame, South Carolina supported Democratic candidates for president more often than Republican candidates, 53.3 to 43.3 percent. South Carolina favored Republicans in every presidential election between 2000 and 2016.

Presidential results by legislative district

The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state House districts in South Carolina. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns show the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns show the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.^[3]^[4]

In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won 39 out of 124 state House districts in South Carolina with an average margin of victory of 32.8 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won 38 out of 124 state House districts in South Carolina with an average margin of victory of 28.3 points. Clinton won one district controlled by a Republican heading into the 2018 elections.

In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won 85 out of 124 state House districts in South Carolina with an average margin of victory of 28.7 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won 86 out of 124 state House districts in South Carolina with an average margin of victory of 30.1 points. Trump won seven districts controlled by Democrats heading into the 2018 elections.

2016 presidential results by state House district
District	Obama	Romney	2012 Margin	Clinton	Trump	2016 Margin	Party Control
1	23.28%	75.15%	R+51.9	18.61%	77.65%	R+59	R
2	31.79%	66.50%	R+34.7	28.17%	66.98%	R+38.8	R
3	35.60%	61.95%	R+26.4	33.39%	58.53%	R+25.1	R
4	17.87%	80.08%	R+62.2	12.86%	83.53%	R+70.7	R
5	23.85%	74.46%	R+50.6	20.85%	74.77%	R+53.9	R
6	30.99%	67.41%	R+36.4	27.78%	67.13%	R+39.3	R
7	32.32%	66.10%	R+33.8	23.98%	73.09%	R+49.1	R
8	33.75%	64.76%	R+31	28.69%	68.03%	R+39.3	R
9	35.55%	63.02%	R+27.5	32.29%	63.27%	R+31	R
10	22.06%	76.34%	R+54.3	20.11%	75.76%	R+55.6	R
11	41.13%	57.49%	R+16.4	32.52%	65.04%	R+32.5	R
12	59.39%	39.69%	D+19.7	53.79%	43.46%	D+10.3	D
13	32.85%	65.84%	R+33	30.28%	65.63%	R+35.3	R
14	36.82%	61.80%	R+25	29.74%	67.30%	R+37.6	R
15	48.83%	49.47%	R+0.6	45.11%	49.55%	R+4.4	R
16	41.69%	56.82%	R+15.1	36.19%	59.30%	R+23.1	R
17	21.18%	76.65%	R+55.5	18.81%	75.94%	R+57.1	R
18	25.25%	72.79%	R+47.5	23.48%	71.10%	R+47.6	R
19	35.02%	62.85%	R+27.8	34.74%	59.59%	R+24.9	R
20	27.09%	70.82%	R+43.7	28.31%	64.69%	R+36.4	R
21	25.57%	72.91%	R+47.3	29.67%	64.13%	R+34.5	R
22	32.91%	65.01%	R+32.1	35.65%	56.13%	R+20.5	R
23	64.77%	33.12%	D+31.6	60.89%	32.19%	D+28.7	D
24	35.96%	62.42%	R+26.5	39.48%	53.84%	R+14.4	R
25	71.10%	27.86%	D+43.2	65.40%	31.14%	D+34.3	D
26	35.32%	62.83%	R+27.5	36.60%	57.21%	R+20.6	R
27	36.38%	62.10%	R+25.7	35.80%	58.61%	R+22.8	R
28	34.06%	64.37%	R+30.3	32.48%	62.53%	R+30.1	R
29	33.75%	64.90%	R+31.2	26.63%	70.63%	R+44	R
30	34.61%	64.30%	R+29.7	27.30%	70.23%	R+42.9	R
31	79.20%	19.94%	D+59.3	72.36%	24.44%	D+47.9	D
32	35.50%	63.00%	R+27.5	32.93%	62.60%	R+29.7	R
33	30.03%	68.55%	R+38.5	25.34%	71.30%	R+46	R
34	42.65%	56.21%	R+13.6	41.00%	54.57%	R+13.6	R
35	27.40%	71.15%	R+43.8	27.02%	67.92%	R+40.9	R
36	38.11%	60.33%	R+22.2	31.58%	64.35%	R+32.8	R
37	33.05%	65.49%	R+32.4	29.64%	65.82%	R+36.2	R
38	23.88%	74.78%	R+50.9	18.90%	77.70%	R+58.8	R
39	32.81%	65.88%	R+33.1	27.32%	69.52%	R+42.2	R
40	42.28%	56.63%	R+14.4	36.99%	59.60%	R+22.6	R
41	63.72%	35.30%	D+28.4	61.23%	35.98%	D+25.3	D
42	44.12%	54.53%	R+10.4	37.44%	59.80%	R+22.4	D
43	44.83%	53.97%	R+9.1	35.08%	61.58%	R+26.5	R
44	46.57%	52.34%	R+5.8	38.98%	58.42%	R+19.4	D
45	35.40%	63.31%	R+27.9	34.76%	60.44%	R+25.7	R
46	41.87%	56.57%	R+14.7	40.05%	53.52%	R+13.5	R
47	31.57%	67.02%	R+35.4	26.48%	68.76%	R+42.3	R
48	35.74%	62.60%	R+26.9	35.12%	59.40%	R+24.3	R
49	66.67%	32.40%	D+34.3	61.82%	34.84%	D+27	D
50	63.30%	35.70%	D+27.6	58.24%	39.47%	D+18.8	D
51	73.57%	25.50%	D+48.1	71.54%	26.14%	D+45.4	D
52	41.47%	57.24%	R+15.8	37.04%	59.07%	R+22	D
53	47.26%	51.83%	R+4.6	39.48%	58.10%	R+18.6	R
54	58.26%	40.99%	D+17.3	53.53%	44.66%	D+8.9	D
55	56.03%	43.25%	D+12.8	48.68%	49.42%	R+0.7	D
56	41.06%	57.56%	R+16.5	32.30%	64.06%	R+31.8	R
57	62.48%	36.64%	D+25.8	57.73%	40.44%	D+17.3	D
58	33.03%	66.09%	R+33.1	28.08%	69.29%	R+41.2	R
59	70.58%	28.54%	D+42	67.55%	30.01%	D+37.5	D
60	38.35%	60.80%	R+22.5	34.96%	62.74%	R+27.8	R
61	51.91%	47.23%	D+4.7	45.72%	52.23%	R+6.5	D
62	65.60%	33.61%	D+32	61.45%	36.39%	D+25.1	D
63	34.43%	64.43%	R+30	35.35%	60.23%	R+24.9	R
64	58.22%	40.98%	D+17.2	53.18%	45.00%	D+8.2	D
65	31.75%	67.08%	R+35.3	27.25%	69.53%	R+42.3	R
66	72.57%	26.70%	D+45.9	68.93%	29.57%	D+39.4	D
67	37.94%	61.07%	R+23.1	35.62%	60.53%	R+24.9	R
68	33.20%	65.40%	R+32.2	28.04%	68.23%	R+40.2	R
69	31.53%	66.96%	R+35.4	30.88%	62.14%	R+31.3	R
70	73.89%	25.16%	D+48.7	70.02%	27.11%	D+42.9	D
71	34.78%	63.68%	R+28.9	34.96%	58.73%	R+23.8	R
72	68.08%	29.85%	D+38.2	69.16%	24.22%	D+44.9	D
73	80.11%	18.83%	D+61.3	77.42%	18.47%	D+58.9	D
74	81.27%	17.11%	D+64.2	78.82%	16.24%	D+62.6	D
75	42.45%	55.85%	R+13.4	47.88%	45.26%	D+2.6	R
76	77.22%	21.70%	D+55.5	76.59%	19.75%	D+56.8	D
77	69.65%	29.43%	D+40.2	67.21%	29.11%	D+38.1	D
78	49.92%	48.75%	D+1.2	52.86%	41.64%	D+11.2	D
79	72.59%	26.57%	D+46	70.85%	24.80%	D+46.1	D
80	59.84%	38.87%	D+21	55.10%	40.89%	D+14.2	D
81	29.68%	68.58%	R+38.9	29.88%	64.05%	R+34.2	R
82	59.20%	39.93%	D+19.3	54.84%	42.65%	D+12.2	D
83	28.62%	69.81%	R+41.2	29.03%	66.20%	R+37.2	R
84	34.77%	64.20%	R+29.4	31.33%	65.32%	R+34	R
85	30.93%	67.51%	R+36.6	31.43%	62.49%	R+31.1	R
86	38.58%	60.04%	R+21.5	34.38%	61.86%	R+27.5	R
87	20.64%	78.04%	R+57.4	20.68%	73.42%	R+52.7	R
88	27.08%	71.09%	R+44	25.84%	68.79%	R+42.9	R
89	38.55%	59.55%	R+21	38.45%	55.10%	R+16.6	R
90	52.50%	46.54%	D+6	46.55%	51.10%	R+4.5	D
91	63.50%	35.77%	D+27.7	58.70%	39.27%	D+19.4	D
92	36.52%	61.43%	R+24.9	34.38%	59.77%	R+25.4	R
93	59.26%	39.77%	D+19.5	53.51%	44.10%	D+9.4	D
94	36.52%	61.86%	R+25.3	34.95%	58.59%	R+23.6	R
95	71.56%	27.77%	D+43.8	68.97%	29.07%	D+39.9	D
96	29.83%	68.33%	R+38.5	24.42%	71.46%	R+47	R
97	42.47%	56.02%	R+13.5	37.05%	58.73%	R+21.7	D
98	40.02%	58.27%	R+18.3	38.80%	54.78%	R+16	R
99	32.05%	66.30%	R+34.3	35.35%	58.14%	R+22.8	R
100	33.71%	64.76%	R+31	30.44%	64.82%	R+34.4	R
101	66.78%	32.31%	D+34.5	62.75%	35.67%	D+27.1	D
102	60.06%	38.77%	D+21.3	54.07%	43.50%	D+10.6	D
103	62.63%	36.59%	D+26	58.02%	39.82%	D+18.2	D
104	33.50%	65.34%	R+31.8	28.73%	68.55%	R+39.8	R
105	32.43%	66.37%	R+33.9	27.34%	69.47%	R+42.1	R
106	31.29%	67.43%	R+36.1	26.95%	69.91%	R+43	R
107	37.67%	60.99%	R+23.3	35.21%	61.33%	R+26.1	R
108	35.01%	63.87%	R+28.9	33.02%	62.98%	R+30	R
109	71.24%	27.67%	D+43.6	68.57%	27.36%	D+41.2	D
110	37.37%	60.72%	R+23.3	43.15%	48.70%	R+5.5	R
111	78.60%	19.54%	D+59.1	75.33%	18.53%	D+56.8	D
112	35.27%	63.41%	R+28.1	38.92%	54.10%	R+15.2	R
113	73.23%	25.55%	D+47.7	67.01%	27.72%	D+39.3	D
114	38.05%	60.14%	R+22.1	38.63%	53.60%	R+15	R
115	40.78%	57.26%	R+16.5	44.68%	47.55%	R+2.9	R
116	53.66%	45.16%	D+8.5	49.15%	46.69%	D+2.5	D
117	48.43%	49.82%	R+1.4	45.56%	47.89%	R+2.3	R
118	42.55%	56.44%	R+13.9	40.94%	54.97%	R+14	R
119	48.34%	49.63%	R+1.3	48.31%	43.53%	D+4.8	D
120	36.27%	62.73%	R+26.5	36.77%	59.01%	R+22.2	R
121	64.89%	34.33%	D+30.6	60.68%	36.22%	D+24.5	D
122	61.99%	37.22%	D+24.8	56.78%	41.26%	D+15.5	D
123	34.41%	64.63%	R+30.2	39.14%	56.59%	R+17.5	R
124	37.53%	61.16%	R+23.6	38.63%	56.17%	R+17.5	R
Total	44.09%	54.56%	R+10.5	40.67%	54.94%	R+14.3	-
Source: Daily Kos

Recent news

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South Carolina Secretary of State election, 2018 - Google News

External links

Suggest a link

South Carolina secretary of state official website

Footnotes

[1] South Carolina Demographics, "South Carolina Cities by Population," accessed September 5, 2018

[special-2] Special election

[3] Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts," July 9, 2013

[4] Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' 2016 presidential results for congressional and legislative districts," February 6, 2017

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