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 County Results Congressional District Results
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The1948 United States presidential election in South Carolina took place on November 2, 1948, as part of the1948 United States presidential election. State voters chose eight electors to theElectoral College, which selected thepresident andvice president.South Carolina was won byStates' Rights Democratic candidateStrom Thurmond, defeating theDemocratic candidate,incumbentPresidentHarry S. Truman, andNew YorkGovernorThomas E. Dewey.
For six decades South Carolina had been a one-party state dominated by the Democratic Party. The Republican Party had been moribund due to the disfranchisement of blacks and the complete absence of other support bases as South Carolina completely lacked upland or German refugee whitesopposed to secession.[2] Between1900 and1944, no Republican presidential candidate ever obtained more than seven percent of the total presidential vote[3] – a vote which in1924 reached as low as 6.6 percent of the total voting-age population[4] (or approximately 15 percent of the voting-agewhite population).
This absolute loyalty to the Democratic Party – so strong that even CatholicAl Smith in1928 received over ninety percent of South Carolina's limited vote total at the same time as five former Confederate states voted forHerbert Hoover[5] – began to break down withHenry A. Wallace's appointment as vice president and the1943 Detroit race riots.[6] The northern left wing of the Democratic Party became as a result of this riot committed to restoring black political rights,[7] a policy vehemently opposed by mostSouthern Democrats as an infringement upon "states' rights". Tension widened much further when new President Harry Truman, himself a Southerner from Missouri, had described to him a number of horrifying lynchings and racial violence against black veterans, most crucially the beating and blinding of Isaac Woodard three hours after being discharged from the army.[8] Truman, previously viewed as no friend of civil rights, came to believe that racial violence against blacks in the South was a threat to the United States' image abroad and its ability to win theCold War against the radically egalitarian rhetoric ofCommunism.[9]
The result was a major civil rights plan titledTo Secure These Rights a year later, and a civil rights plank in the 1948 Democratic platform. Southern Democrats were enraged by these proposals and thus sought to form a "States' Rights" Democratic ticket, which would replace Truman as the official Democratic nominee.[10] In South Carolina, Dixiecrats completely controlled the situation and achieved this[11] as early as the state's May presidential primary.[12] Consequently, Thurmond andMississippi GovernorFielding Wright were listed as the official "Democratic" nominees. Thurmond won 76% of white voters.[13]
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| The Herald-Sun[14] | Safe I(flip) | September 12, 1948 |
| Chattanooga Daily Times[15] | Safe I(flip) | October 15, 1948 |
| The Evening Star[16] | Certain I(flip) | October 20, 1948 |
| The Montgomery Advertiser[17] | Certain I(flip) | October 24, 1948 |
| Mount Vernon Argus[18] | Certain I(flip) | November 1, 1948 |
| Oakland Tribune[19] | Safe I(flip) | November 1, 1948 |
| 1948 United States presidential election in South Carolina[20] | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Running mate | Popular vote | Electoral vote | ||||
| Count | % | Count | % | |||||
| Dixiecrat | Strom Thurmond ofSouth Carolina | Fielding Lewis Wright ofMississippi | 102,607 | 71.97% | 8 | 100.00% | ||
| Democratic | Harry S. Truman ofMissouri (incumbent) | Alben William Barkley ofKentucky | 34,423 | 24.14% | 0 | 0.00% | ||
| Republican | Thomas Edmund Dewey ofNew York | Earl Warren ofCalifornia | 5,386 | 3.78% | 0 | 0.00% | ||
| Progressive | Henry Agard Wallace ofIowa | Glen Hearst Taylor ofIdaho | 154 | 0.11% | 0 | 0.00% | ||
| Write-in | Norman Thomas ofNew York | Tucker Powell Smith ofMichigan | 1 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | ||
| Total | 142,571 | 100.00% | 8 | 100.00% | ||||
| County | James Strom Thurmond States’ Rights/Democratic | Thomas Edmund Dewey Republican | Harry S. Truman Democratic | Henry Agard Wallace Progressive | Margin[a] | Total votes cast | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Abbeville | 787 | 73.97% | 23 | 2.16% | 254 | 23.87% | 0 | 0.00% | 533 | 50.09% | 1,064 |
| Aiken | 4,607 | 86.94% | 115 | 2.17% | 572 | 10.79% | 5 | 0.09% | 4,035 | 76.15% | 5,299 |
| Allendale | 1,041 | 93.78% | 14 | 1.26% | 55 | 4.95% | 0 | 0.00% | 986 | 88.83% | 1,110 |
| Anderson | 1,342 | 33.32% | 105 | 2.61% | 2,581 | 64.08% | 0 | 0.00% | -1,239 | -30.76% | 4,028 |
| Bamberg | 1,714 | 91.51% | 34 | 1.82% | 124 | 6.62% | 1 | 0.05% | 1,590 | 84.89% | 1,873 |
| Barnwell | 1,920 | 93.02% | 28 | 1.36% | 115 | 5.57% | 1 | 0.05% | 1,805 | 87.45% | 2,064 |
| Beaufort | 850 | 67.62% | 150 | 11.93% | 253 | 20.13% | 4 | 0.32% | 597 | 47.49% | 1,257 |
| Berkeley | 1,534 | 79.94% | 58 | 3.02% | 323 | 16.83% | 4 | 0.21% | 1,211 | 63.11% | 1,919 |
| Calhoun | 840 | 95.35% | 4 | 0.45% | 36 | 4.09% | 1 | 0.11% | 804 | 91.26% | 881 |
| Charleston | 10,603 | 76.32% | 562 | 4.05% | 2,660 | 19.15% | 68 | 0.49% | 7,943 | 57.17% | 13,893 |
| Cherokee | 1,075 | 61.15% | 77 | 4.38% | 605 | 34.41% | 1 | 0.06% | 470 | 26.73% | 1,758 |
| Chester | 1,527 | 75.89% | 48 | 2.39% | 436 | 21.67% | 1 | 0.05% | 1,091 | 54.22% | 2,012 |
| Chesterfield | 1,554 | 62.21% | 31 | 1.24% | 912 | 36.51% | 1 | 0.04% | 642 | 25.70% | 2,498 |
| Clarendon | 1,467 | 92.26% | 16 | 1.01% | 107 | 6.73% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,360 | 85.53% | 1,590 |
| Colleton | 2,337 | 89.92% | 39 | 1.50% | 223 | 8.58% | 0 | 0.00% | 2,114 | 81.14% | 2,599 |
| Darlington | 1,930 | 69.93% | 104 | 3.77% | 726 | 26.30% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,204 | 43.63% | 2,760 |
| Dillon | 967 | 53.72% | 24 | 1.33% | 808 | 44.89% | 1 | 0.06% | 159 | 8.83% | 1,800 |
| Dorchester | 2,717 | 92.10% | 85 | 2.88% | 143 | 4.85% | 5 | 0.17% | 2,574 | 87.25% | 2,950 |
| Edgefield | 1,797 | 98.20% | 6 | 0.33% | 27 | 1.48% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,770 | 96.72% | 1,830 |
| Fairfield | 1,073 | 79.54% | 63 | 4.67% | 211 | 15.64% | 2 | 0.15% | 862 | 63.90% | 1,349 |
| Florence | 3,729 | 72.97% | 192 | 3.76% | 1,189 | 23.27% | 0 | 0.00% | 2,540 | 49.71% | 5,110 |
| Georgetown | 1,943 | 78.66% | 92 | 3.72% | 432 | 17.49% | 3 | 0.12% | 1,511 | 61.17% | 2,470 |
| Greenville | 5,922 | 62.51% | 789 | 8.33% | 2,745 | 28.97% | 18 | 0.19% | 3,177 | 33.53% | 9,474 |
| Greenwood | 2,508 | 83.21% | 63 | 2.09% | 440 | 14.60% | 3 | 0.10% | 2,068 | 68.61% | 3,014 |
| Hampton | 1,530 | 94.33% | 10 | 0.62% | 81 | 4.99% | 1 | 0.06% | 1,449 | 89.33% | 1,622 |
| Horry | 3,345 | 84.45% | 113 | 2.85% | 503 | 12.70% | 0 | 0.00% | 2,842 | 71.75% | 3,961 |
| Jasper | 715 | 80.61% | 31 | 3.49% | 141 | 15.90% | 0 | 0.00% | 574 | 64.71% | 887 |
| Kershaw | 1,615 | 82.15% | 49 | 2.49% | 302 | 15.36% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,313 | 66.79% | 1,966 |
| Lancaster | 1,649 | 65.07% | 30 | 1.18% | 855 | 33.74% | 0 | 0.00% | 794 | 31.33% | 2,534 |
| Laurens | 2,047 | 77.86% | 69 | 2.62% | 513 | 19.51% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,534 | 58.35% | 2,629 |
| Lee | 1,155 | 86.65% | 36 | 2.70% | 142 | 10.65% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,013 | 75.99% | 1,333 |
| Lexington | 2,237 | 78.19% | 58 | 2.03% | 566 | 19.78% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,671 | 58.41% | 2,861 |
| Marion | 1,219 | 79.47% | 14 | 0.91% | 301 | 19.62% | 0 | 0.00% | 918 | 59.84% | 1,534 |
| Marlboro | 1,083 | 73.23% | 41 | 2.77% | 354 | 23.94% | 1 | 0.07% | 729 | 49.29% | 1,479 |
| McCormick | 713 | 95.96% | 0 | 0.00% | 30 | 4.04% | 0 | 0.00% | 683 | 91.92% | 743 |
| Newberry | 2,758 | 87.25% | 47 | 1.49% | 349 | 11.04% | 7 | 0.22% | 2,409 | 76.21% | 3,161 |
| Oconee | 1,155 | 59.02% | 135 | 6.90% | 666 | 34.03% | 1 | 0.05% | 489 | 24.99% | 1,957 |
| Orangeburg | 3,160 | 83.98% | 164 | 4.36% | 435 | 11.56% | 4 | 0.11% | 2,725 | 72.42% | 3,763 |
| Pickens | 1,344 | 69.14% | 165 | 8.49% | 435 | 22.38% | 0 | 0.00% | 909 | 46.76% | 1,944 |
| Richland | 6,096 | 66.32% | 670 | 7.29% | 2,419 | 26.32% | 7 | 0.08% | 3,677 | 40.00% | 9,192 |
| Saluda | 1,712 | 89.45% | 15 | 0.78% | 187 | 9.77% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,525 | 79.68% | 1,914 |
| Spartanburg | 4,660 | 38.70% | 627 | 5.21% | 6,741 | 55.98% | 13 | 0.11% | -2,081 | -17.28% | 12,041 |
| Sumter | 2,718 | 78.17% | 154 | 4.43% | 605 | 17.40% | 0 | 0.00% | 2,113 | 60.77% | 3,477 |
| Union | 2,090 | 61.13% | 46 | 1.35% | 1,283 | 37.53% | 0 | 0.00% | 807 | 23.60% | 3,419 |
| Williamsburg | 1,839 | 92.46% | 23 | 1.16% | 126 | 6.33% | 1 | 0.05% | 1,713 | 86.12% | 1,989 |
| York | 1,983 | 55.67% | 167 | 4.69% | 1,412 | 39.64% | 0 | 0.00% | 571 | 16.03% | 3,562 |
| Totals | 102,607 | 71.97% | 5,386 | 3.78% | 34,423 | 24.14% | 154 | 0.11% | 68,184 | 47.82% | 142,570 |
Thurmond won his native state by a margin of 47.83 points, making him the first third-party candidate to carry the state sinceSouthern DemocratJohn C. Breckinridge in1860. This was the first time the state voted against the Democrats since1876, and Truman was the first Democrat to win without the state since1836.
Significant opposition to Thurmond came from the poor whites of the industrialupcountry, who rejected the Dixiecrats' opposition to public works and labor regulation.[23] Many upcountry county parties and newspapers, especially in the two counties that backed Truman over Thurmond,[24] alongside SenatorOlin D. Johnston,[25] also rejected bolting from the national party.
However, sufficiently few of these poorer whites voted that Thurmond was able to easily carry South Carolina, winning 44 of the state's 46 counties and over 71 percent of the total presidential vote. Thurmond exceeded 72 percent in all but twelve counties, and passed ninety percent in ten. This was the first time any county in South Carolina had voted against the national Democrats since 1900.[26]
State and district results of the1948 United States presidential election | ||
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