1996 United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina

← 1994 November 5, 1996 (1996-11-05) 1998 →
All 6 South Carolina seats to the United States House of Representatives
Majority party Minority party   Party Republican Democratic Last election 4 2 Seats won 4 2 Seat change Popular vote 682,913 345,358 Percentage 64.54% 32.64% Swing 0.91% 3.44%
Winners Vote share Republican   60–70%   70–80%   80–90%   >90% Democratic   50–60%   60–70% Winners   Republican Hold   Democratic Hold

Elections in South Carolina
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The 1996 United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina were held on November 5, 1996, to select six Representatives for two-year terms from the state of South Carolina. The primary elections for the Democrats and the Republicans were held on June 11. All six incumbents were re-elected and the composition of the state delegation remained four Republicans and two Democrats.

1st congressional district[edit]

Incumbent Republican Congressman Mark Sanford of the 1st congressional district, in office since 1995, defeated Natural Law candidate Joseph F. Innella.

General election results[edit]

South Carolina's 1st congressional district election results, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Mark Sanford (incumbent)	138,467	96.4	+30.1
	Natural Law	Joseph F. Innella	5,105	3.5	+3.5
	No party	Write-Ins	121	0.1	+0.1
Majority			133,362	92.9	+59.0
Turnout			143,693
	Republican hold

2nd congressional district[edit]

Incumbent Republican Congressman Floyd Spence of the 2nd congressional district, in office since 1971, defeated Natural Law candidate Maurice T. Raiford.

General election results[edit]

South Carolina's 2nd congressional district election results, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Floyd Spence (incumbent)	158,229	89.8	-10.0
	Natural Law	Maurice T. Raiford	17,713	10.0	+10.0
	No party	Write-Ins	347	0.2	0.0
Majority			140,516	79.8	-19.8
Turnout			176,289
	Republican hold

3rd congressional district[edit]

Incumbent Republican Congressman Lindsey Graham of the 3rd congressional district, in office since 1995, defeated Democratic challenger Debbie Dorn.

General election results[edit]

South Carolina's 3rd congressional district election results, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Lindsey Graham (incumbent)	114,273	60.3	+0.2
	Democratic	Debbie Dorn	73,417	38.7	-1.2
	Natural Law	Lindal Pennington	1,835	1.0	+1.0
	No party	Write-Ins	5	0.0	0.0
Majority			40,856	21.6	+1.4
Turnout			189,530
	Republican hold

4th congressional district[edit]

Incumbent Republican Congresswoman Bob Inglis of the 4th congressional district, in office since 1993, defeated Democratic challenger Darrell E. Curry.

General election results[edit]

South Carolina's 4th congressional district election results, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Bob Inglis (incumbent)	138,165	70.9	-2.6
	Democratic	Darrell E. Curry	54,126	27.8	+1.4
	Natural Law	C. Faye Walters	2,501	1.3	+1.3
	No party	Write-Ins	20	0.0	-0.1
Majority			84,039	43.1	-4.0
Turnout			194,812
	Republican hold

5th congressional district[edit]

Incumbent Democratic Congressman John M. Spratt, Jr. of the 5th congressional district, in office since 1983, defeated Republican challenger Larry Bigham.

General election results[edit]

South Carolina's 5th congressional district election results, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John M. Spratt, Jr. (incumbent)	97,335	54.1	+2.0
	Republican	Larry Bigham	81,455	45.3	-2.5
	Natural Law	P.G. Joshi	1,159	0.6	+0.6
	No party	Write-Ins	22	0.0	-0.1
Majority			15,880	8.8	+4.5
Turnout			179,971
	Democratic hold

6th congressional district[edit]

Incumbent Democratic Congressman Jim Clyburn of the 6th congressional district, in office since 1993, defeated Republican challenger Gary McLeod.

Democratic primary[edit]

Democratic primary
Candidate	Votes	%
Jim Clyburn	50,933	87.8
Ben Frasier	7,107	12.2

Republican primary[edit]

Republican primary
Candidate	Votes	%
Gary McLeod	12,382	77.8
Delores Porcher-DeCosta	3,530	22.2

General election results[edit]

South Carolina's 6th congressional district election results, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Jim Clyburn (incumbent)	120,480	69.3	+5.5
	Republican	Gary McLeod	52,324	30.1	-6.1
	Natural Law	Savitap Joshi	948	0.6	+0.6
	No party	Write-Ins	26	0.0	0.0
Majority			68,156	39.2	+11.6
Turnout			173,778
	Democratic hold

See also[edit]

• United States House elections, 1996
• United States Senate election in South Carolina, 1996
• South Carolina's congressional districts

External links[edit]

• South Carolina Election Returns