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 County results Hollings: 50–60% 60–70% Parker: 50-60% 60-70% | |||||||||||||||||
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The1966 South Carolina United States Senate special election was held on November 8, 1966 to select theU.S. Senator from the state ofSouth Carolina. The election resulted from the death of SenatorOlin D. Johnston in 1965. ThenGovernorDonald S. Russell entered in a prearranged agreement withLieutenant GovernorRobert Evander McNair in which Russell would resign his post so that he could be appointed Senator. However, former GovernorFritz Hollings won theDemocraticprimary election and went on to beatRepublicanstate senatorMarshall Parker in the general election to win his right to fill the remaining two years of the unexpired term.
In the1962 gubernatorial election,Donald S. Russell had stated that he would serve out a full term and not seek a higher office. However, midway through his term he resigned from the governorship so that he could be appointed to theUnited States Senate. Russell faced a challenge in the Democratic primary from former GovernorFritz Hollings, who had lost toOlin D. Johnston in the1962 primary for the same Senate seat. On June 14, theSouth Carolina Democratic Party held their primary election and Hollings scored a comfortable victory over Russell to become the Democratic nominee.
| Democratic Primary | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Fritz Hollings | 196,405 | 60.8% |
| Donald S. Russell (incumbent) | 126,595 | 39.2% |
TheSouth Carolina Republican Party was in the beginning stages of becoming a major political party inSouth Carolina politics. It had few elected officials in the state and whenstate senatorMarshall Parker fromOconee County sought the Republican nomination, he did not face any opposition.
Parker faced an uphill battle in winning the Senate seat. First, the state was dominated by the Democratic Party and any Republican politician faced a tough time seeking election, although there was hope for Republicans becauseBarry Goldwater had won the state in the1964 presidential election. Secondly, most of the resources of the Republican party were allocated forStrom Thurmond's re-election campaign andJoseph O. Rogers, Jr.gubernatorial election. Nevertheless, Parker was able to keep the race close and almost defeated Hollings in the general election.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Fritz Hollings | 223,790 | 51.35% | −5.81% | |
| Republican | Marshall Parker | 212,032 | 48.65% | +5.81% | |
| Majority | 11,758 | 2.70% | −11.62% | ||
| Turnout | 435,822 | 49.1% | +2.2% | ||
| Democratichold | |||||
Hollings first Senate victory was also his closest and he was easily re-elected in 1968 (full-term), 1974, 1980, and 1986, with somewhat tougher races in 1992 and 1998, although neither with a margin as narrow as that of his initial election. He eventually became the seventh longest-serving senator in history (just behindRobert Byrd, Thurmond,Ted Kennedy,Daniel Inouye,Carl Hayden andJohn C. Stennis). He and Thurmond were also the longest-serving Senate duo. Because of this, despite his length of service, Hollings spent 36 years as the junior Senator, even though - with his penultimate term - he had gained seniority of all but four of his colleagues - Byrd, Thurmond, Inouye, and Kennedy. Hollings became a nationally important political figure, e.g., serving as Chairman of the Budget committee.
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