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 Thurmond: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%Brown: 50-60% 60-70% >90% | ||||||||||||||||
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The1954 South Carolina United States Senate election was held on November 2, 1954. SenatorBurnet R. Maybank did not face a primary challenge in the summer and was therefore renominated as theDemocratic nominee for the election in the fall. However, his death on September 1 left the Democratic Party without a nominee, and the executive committee nominatedstate SenatorEdgar A. Brown as their replacement candidate. Many South Carolinians were outraged by the party's decision to forgo a primary election, and formerGovernorStrom Thurmond entered the race as awrite-in candidate. He easily won the election and became the first U.S. senator to be elected by a write-in vote in an election where other candidates hadballot access (William Knowland ofCalifornia in 1946 was the first Senate candidate to win via write-in, but the ballots in that election were blank with no candidates listed, so essentially every candidate was running a write-in campaign).[1] A Senate election where the victor won by a write-in campaign did not happen again until2010.
Sitting SenatorBurnet R. Maybank entered the 1954 contest without a challenge in the Democraticprimary nor in the general election. His unexpected death on September 1 caused panic and confusion within the hierarchy of thestate Democratic party because the state law required that a party's nominee be certified by September 3. Hours after Maybank's funeral, the state Democratic executive committee met in secret and chosestate SenatorEdgar A. Brown ofBarnwell County as the party's nominee for the general election. Not only was Brown a part of the "Barnwell Ring", but he was also a member of the executive committee.
The state Democratic Party's decision to choose a candidate without holding a special primary election drew widespread criticism across the state. On September 3,The Greenville News ran an editorial advocating that a primary election be called and several newspapers across the state followed suit. At least six county Democratic committees repudiated the action by the state committee and called for a primary election. Despite repeated calls for a primary, the state executive committee voted against holding a primary because they did not think that there was enough time before the general election to hold a primary election.
Immediately after the executive committee voted against holding a primary election, former GovernorStrom Thurmond and lumberman Marcus Stone announced their intention to run as Democraticwrite-in candidates. Thurmond and his supporters stated that the executive committee had several legal alternatives as opposed to the outright appointment of state Senator Brown. In addition, Thurmond promised that if he were elected he would resign in 1956 so that the voters could choose a candidate in the regular primary for the remaining four years of the term.
Thurmond received support from GovernorJames F. Byrnes and from those who backed hisPresidential bid as aDixiecrat in the1948 Presidential election. Thurmond framed the race as a "moral issue: democracy versus committee rule"[2] and his write-in campaign was repeatedly assisted by every newspaper in the state, except for those inAnderson. For instance,The News and Courier devoted its front page on November 2 to show voters a sample ballot and it also provided detailed instructions on how to cast a write-in vote. Not only that, but the newspaper also printed an editorial on the front page giving precise reasons why voters should vote for Thurmond instead of Brown.
On the other hand, Brown was supported by the Democratic party regulars and he also gained the endorsement of SenatorOlin D. Johnston. Brown based his campaign entirely on the issue of party loyalty, stressing that Thurmond was aRepublican ally because he had voted forPresident Eisenhower in 1952.
Marcus A. Stone, a lumberman inFlorence andDillon, was a candidate in previous Democratic primaries for governor and senator. He did very little campaigning for the general election.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Strom Thurmond (Write-In) | 143,444 | 63.13% | +63.1 | |
| Democratic | Edgar A. Brown | 83,525 | 36.76% | −59.6 | |
| Democratic | Marcus Stone (Write-In) | 240 | 0.11% | +0.1 | |
| No party | Write-Ins | 23 | 0.01% | 0.0 | |
| Majority | 59,919 | 26.37% | −66.5 | ||
| Turnout | 227,232 | ||||
| Democratichold | |||||
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