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 Results by county Maybank: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% Dorn: 30–40% 40–50% 50-60% 60–70% Bennett: 80-90% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The1948 South Carolina United States Senate election was held on November 2, 1948, to select theU.S. Senator from the state ofSouth Carolina. Incumbent SenatorBurnet R. Maybank won the Democratic primary and defeated Republican challenger J. Bates Gerald in the general election to win another six-year term.
Senator Maybank narrowly achieved a majority of the primary vote, avoiding a potential run-off election against Dorn.
| Democratic Primary | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Burnet R. Maybank | 161,608 | 51.5 |
| W.J. Bryan Dorn | 76,749 | 24.4 |
| Neville Bennett | 43,068 | 13.7 |
| Alan Johnstone | 17,689 | 5.6 |
| Marcus A. Stone | 14,904 | 4.8 |
Since the end ofReconstruction in 1877, theDemocratic Party dominated thepolitics of South Carolina and its statewide candidates were never seriously challenged. Maybank did not campaign for the general election as there was no chance of defeat.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Burnet R. Maybank (incumbent) | 135,998 | 96.4 | −3.6 | |
| Republican | J. Bates Gerald | 5,008 | 3.6 | +3.6 | |
| Majority | 130,990 | 92.8 | −7.2 | ||
| Turnout | 141,006 | ||||
| Democratichold | |||||
