Pivot Counties in South Carolina
| 2020 Election Analysis: Pivot Counties |
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Retained • Boomerang Margins of victory Voter turnout Demographics |
Pivot Counties are the 206 counties nationwide Ballotpedia identified as having voted for Barack Obama (D) in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections and Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Media and political observers sometimes refer to these counties as swing counties.
Following the 2016 presidential election, South Carolina had five Pivot Counties.
Ballotpedia defines Pivot Counties Trump won in 2020 as Retained Pivot Counties and those Joe Biden (D) won as Boomerang Pivot Counties.
After the 2020 presidential election, all five were Retained Pivot Counties.
List of Pivot Counties
The table below lists the Pivot Counties in South Carolina. These counties accounted for 10.87 percent of the total counties in South Carolina, and 2.5 percent of the state population.
| Analysis of South Carolina counties won by Trump in 2016 and Obama in 2012 and 2008 following the 2020 presidential election[1] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| County | State | Winner, 2020 | Margin of Victory, 2020 | Trump Margin of Victory, 2016 | Obama Margin of Victory, 2012 | Obama Margin of Victory, 2008 | |
| Barnwell County | South Carolina | Retained | +7.48 | +5.16 | +5.33 | +1.65 | |
| Calhoun County | South Carolina | Retained | +4.82 | +2.83 | +4.31 | +3.55 | |
| Chester County | South Carolina | Retained | +10.91 | +4.83 | +10.58 | +8.3 | |
| Colleton County | South Carolina | Retained | +9.53 | +8.49 | +0.19 | +0.53 | |
| McCormick County | South Carolina | Retained | +4.76 | +3.32 | +3.6 | +6.08 | |
The map below shows Retained Pivot Counties in South Carolina shaded bright red.
2020 analysis
Voter turnout
South Carolina has five Retained Pivot Counties, 10.9% of the state's 46 total counties. Turnout in these counties accounted for 2.36% of the statewide total turnout.
| Voter turnout in South Carolina and its Pivot Counties | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes cast | Voting age population | Turnout | Contribution to statewide turnout | |||
| Overview | ||||||
| South Carolina | 2,513,329 | 3,731,345 | 67.36% | - | ||
| Retained Pivot Counties | 59,349 | 89,485 | 66.32% | 2.36% | ||
| County-specific | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes cast | Voting age population | Turnout | Contribution to statewide turnout | |||
| Barnwell | 10,321 | 16,100 | 64.11% | 0.41% | ||
| Calhoun | 8,291 | 11,660 | 71.11% | 0.33% | ||
| Chester | 15,757 | 24,845 | 63.42% | 0.63% | ||
| Colleton | 19,283 | 28,510 | 67.64% | 0.77% | ||
| McCormick | 5,697 | 8,370 | 68.06% | 0.23% | ||
Demographics
This table displays demographic data, on average, by county compared to nationwide and statewide averages with a focus on Pivot Counties. Use the arrows at the top of the table to view 2016 data and changes from 2016 to 2020. Full demographic data can be found here.
2016 analysis
Voting trends
The table below details the voting trends of the Pivot Counties in South Carolina since 1960.
| Presidential Elections in South Carolina Pivot Counties since 1960 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| County | Elections won by Republican Presidential candidate | Elections won by Democratic Presidential candidate | Elections matching national result | |||
| Elections | Percentage of elections | Elections | Percentage of elections | Elections | Percentage of elections | |
| Barnwell County, South Carolina | 10 | 66.67% | 4 | 26.67% | 9 | 60.00% |
| Calhoun County, South Carolina | 8 | 53.33% | 7 | 46.67% | 11 | 73.33% |
| Chester County, South Carolina | 5 | 33.33% | 10 | 66.67% | 12 | 80.00% |
| Colleton County, South Carolina | 9 | 60.00% | 6 | 40.00% | 12 | 80.00% |
| McCormick County, South Carolina | 3 | 20.00% | 12 | 80.00% | 8 | 53.33% |
| Average | 7 | 46.67% | 8 | 52.00% | 10 | 69.33% |
| Median | 8 | 53.33% | 7 | 46.67% | 11 | 73.33% |
2016 election results
In 2016, South Carolina had nine electoral votes, which was 1.7 percent of the 538 electoral votes up for grabs and 3.3 percent of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the general election. Hillary Clinton won the South Carolina Democratic primary 73.4 percent of the vote. Donald Trump won the South Carolina Republican primary with 32.5 percent.
General election
| U.S. presidential election, South Carolina, 2016 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | Electoral votes | |
| Democratic | Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine | 40.7% | 855,373 | 0 | |
| Republican |  Donald Trump/Mike Pence |
54.9% | 1,155,389 | 9 | |
| Libertarian | Gary Johnson/Bill Weld | 2.3% | 49,204 | 0 | |
| Green | Jill Stein/Ajamu Baraka | 0.6% | 13,034 | 0 | |
| Constitution | Darrell Castle/Scott Bradley | 0.3% | 5,765 | 0 | |
| Independence | Evan McMullin/Nathan Johnson | 1% | 21,016 | 0 | |
| American | Peter Skewes/Michael Lacy | 0.2% | 3,246 | 0 | |
| Total Votes | 2,103,027 | 9 | |||
| Election results via: South Carolina Election Commission | |||||
Primaries
| South Carolina Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | Delegates | |
|
Hillary Clinton |
73.4% | 272,379 | 39 | |
| Bernie Sanders | 26% | 96,498 | 14 | |
| Martin O'Malley | 0.2% | 713 | 0 | |
| Willie Wilson | 0.4% | 1,314 | 0 | |
| Totals | 370,904 | 53 | ||
| Source: South Carolina State Election Commission | ||||
| South Carolina Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | Delegates | |
|
Donald Trump |
32.5% | 240,882 | 50 | |
| Marco Rubio | 22.5% | 166,565 | 0 | |
| Ted Cruz | 22.3% | 165,417 | 0 | |
| Jeb Bush | 7.8% | 58,056 | 0 | |
| John Kasich | 7.6% | 56,410 | 0 | |
| Ben Carson | 7.2% | 53,551 | 0 | |
| Totals | 740,881 | 50 | ||
| Source: South Carolina State Election Commission | ||||
See also
- List of Pivot Counties - the 206 counties that voted Obama-Obama-Trump
- Pivot Counties by state
- Presidential election, 2016
Footnotes
- ↑ This analysis does not include counties in Alaska and certain independent cities due to variations in vote total reporting.
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