South Carolina local trial court judicial elections, 2018

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2018
Trial court elections

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South Carolina held general elections for probate court judges on November 6, 2018. Partisan primary elections took place on June 12, 2018. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in these elections was March 30, 2018.[1]

Ballotpedia provides comprehensive coverage of elections in America's 100 largest cities by population. This coverage extends to every office on the ballot for residents of these cities, including local trial court judges. Since this state did not have a city in the top 100, Ballotpedia did not cover local trial court judicial elections in this state in 2018. Click here to learn more about how the judges in this state are selected. Please consider donating to Ballotpedia to help us expand our coverage of these elections.

Election dates

  • March 30, 2018: Filing deadline for candidates
  • June 12, 2018: Primary election
  • November 6, 2018: General election

Election rules

Primary election

Primary elections for probate court candidates are conducted on the second Tuesday in June.[2]

Also referred to as a "second primary," a primary runoff is held two weeks after the primary for races where more than two candidates filed to compete for one seat in a party primary. If that is the case, the two highest-voted candidates from the primary advance to a runoff. The person with the most votes in the runoff becomes the party's nominee for the general election.[3]

For example, if two Democratic candidates compete in the primary, the winner simply advances to the general election. However, if three Democratic candidates compete in the primary, the top two advance to the runoff. The winner of the runoff faces any Republican candidate in the general election.

General election

Unopposed candidates for the probate courts do not appear on the primary ballots, but automatically advance to the general election.[4]

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.[5][6]

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.

See also

Local courts South Carolina Other local coverage
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External links

Footnotes