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 County results Thurmond: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Cunningham: 40–50% 50–60% | |||||||||||||||||
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The1990 South Carolina United States Senate election was held on November 6, 1990, to select theU.S. Senator from the state ofSouth Carolina. Popular incumbentRepublican U.S. SenatorStrom Thurmond cruised to re-election againstDemocratic challenger Bob Cunningham.
U.S. SenatorStrom Thurmond faced no opposition fromSouth Carolina Republicans and avoided aprimary election. Thestate Democrats saw this as an unwinnable race so when Bob Cunningham sought the Democratic nomination, he was unopposed in his bid.
Cunningham launched his second bid to unseat Republican Sen. Strom Thurmond after switching from the GOP to the Democratic Party in early 1990. Though he faced a formidable opponent, Cunningham planned no fund-raising activities. "I don't plan to ask for anything and I won't accept any money from PACs," he said. Cunningham said his campaign strategy was to "go to places where I was invited and spread out my ideas." If elected, Cummingham said he would push to limit consecutive congressional service to 12 years and reform the tax system. He supported greater environmental activism. "I think we're going at it in much too lukewarm a fashion. I think we should work hard to find a substitute for the internal combustion engine."
Cunningham, a retired intelligence officer, had little chance of defeating Strom Thurmond and the election was never a serious contest. Thurmond overwhelmingly outspent Cunningham in his re-election campaign.
80% of white voters and 20% of black voters supported Thurmond.[1]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Strom Thurmond (incumbent) | 482,032 | 64.21% | −2.58% | |
| Democratic | Bob Cunningham | 244,112 | 32.52% | +0.72% | |
| Libertarian | William H. Griffin | 13,804 | 1.84% | +0.46% | |
| American | Marion C. Metts | 10,317 | 1.37% | N/A | |
| Write-in | 464 | 0.06% | N/A | ||
| Total votes | 750,729 | 100.00% | |||
