- South Carolina Democratic Party
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South Carolina Democratic Party 
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Chairman Dick Harpootlian Senate leader John Land Assembly leader Harry L. Ott, Jr. Headquarters 1529 Hampton St. Suite 200
Columbia, South CarolinaNational affiliation Democratic Party Official colors Blue Website http://www.scdp.org/ Politics of the United States
Political parties
ElectionsThe South Carolina Democratic Party is the South Carolina affiliate of the United States Democratic Party. The Democratic party thrived during the Second Party System between 1832 and the mid-1850s and was one of the causes of the collapse of the Whig Party.
South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union on December 20, 1860. The white population of South Carolina, long before the American Civil War, strongly supported the institution of slavery. The first shots of the Civil War were fired in Charleston by its Citadel cadets upon a civilian merchant ship Star of the West bringing supplies to the beleaguered Federal garrison at Fort Sumter January 9, 1861. The April 1861 Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter ignited what became a four-year struggle that divided the nation. Seeing as how South Carolina was dominated by the Democratic Party, it became a source of troops for the Confederate Army.
Between 1880-1848, South Carolina's Democratic Party dominated state politics. The 1948 Presidential Election marked the winds of change as J. Strom Thurmond ran on behalf of the State's Rights Party. He accumulated 71% of the votes cast in South Carolina that year.
Nearly 100 years after the conclusion of the Civil War (around 1949), the state was still preoccupied with racial tension, which muffled the debate about the most important issue, the declining condition of the state's economy. During this time, all politics revolved around the Democratic Party. Furthermore, a single faction typically dominated local politics. South Carolina was locked into the traditionalistic culture dominant throughout the South. Political change was often resisted by South Carolina's agrarian leaders. The agrarian leaders were middle class farmers that were thought to maintain the status quo of the Democratic Party. The lower class was generally not allowed to vote.
In addition to resistance towards political change in the mid-1900's, South Carolina's Democratic party also prevented African Americans from voting in the primary election. This prevented African Americans from having a meaningful vote in the election. Due to the fact that there was no Republican candidate, the Democratic Primary election was essentially the Presidential election.
Contents
Current elected officials
The South Carolina Democratic Party controls none of the statewide offices and holds the minority in both the South Carolina Senate and the South Carolina House of Representatives. Democrats hold one of the state's six U.S. House seats.
Member of Congress
U.S. House of Representatives
- James Clyburn, 6th District
Statewide offices
- None
State Legislature
Officers and staff
As of May 2011, the state party officers were:
- Chair: Dick Harpootlian
- 1st Vice Chairman: Jamie Harrison
- 2nd Vice Chairman: Melissa Watson
- 3rd Vice Chairman: Will Maxey
- Secretary: Elizabeth Brown
- Treasurer: Marc Posner
State Party Staff:
- Executive Director:
- Political Director: Abe Jenkins
Governor : nikki Haley
Members of the Democratic National Committee
Four persons affiliated with the South Carolina Democratic Party also serve on the Democratic National Committee.[1] These are:
- State Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter
- Don Fowler
- Matthew Richardson
Presidential election results
2008 - McCain(Republican) 53.87% Obama(Democrat) 44.90%
2004 - Bush(Republican) 57.98% Kerry(Democrat) 40.90%
2000 - Bush(Republican) 56.83% Gore(Democrat) 40.91%
1996 - Dole(Republican) 49.89% Clinton(Democrat)43.89%
1992 - Bush(Republican) 48.02% Clinton(Democrat) 39.88%
1988 - Bush(Republican) 61.50% Dukakis(Democrat) 37.58%
1984 - Reagan(Republican) 63.55% Mondale(Democrat) 35.57%
1980 - Reagan(Republican) 49.57% Carter(Democrat) 48.04%
1976 - Ford(Republican) 43.13% Carter(Democrat) 56.17%
1972 - Nixon(Republican) 70.58% McGovern(Democrat) 27.92%
1968 - Nixon(Republican) 38.09% Humphrey(Democrat) 29.61% Wallace(Petition) 32.30%
1964 - Goldwater(Republican) 58.89% Johnson(Democrat) 41.10%
1960 - Nixon(Republican) 48.76% Kennedy(Democrat) 51.24%
1956 - Eisenhower(Republican) 25.18% Stevenson(Democrat) 45.37% Unpledged Elector 29.45%
1952 - Eisenhower(Republican) 49.28% Stevenson(Democrat) 50.72%
1948 - Dewey(Republican) 1944 - 1940 - 1936 - 1932 - 1928 - 1924 - 1920 - 1916 - 1912 - 1908 - 1904 - 1900 - 1896 - 1892 - 1888 - 1884 - 1880 - 1876 - 1872 - 1868 - 1852 - 1848 - 1844 - 1840 - 1836 - 1832 - 1828 - 1824 -
Office location
The South Carolina Democratic Party operates from its headquarters office in Columbia, the capital city of South Carolina.
Its physical address is: 1529 Hampton St. | Suite 200 | Columbia, SC 29201
Its mailing address is: P.O. Box 5965 | Columbia, SC 29250
See also
References
Leip, David. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. http://www.uselectionatlas.org (date)
External links
South Carolina political parties Major Democratic · Republican
Minor Categories:- Democratic Party (United States) by state
- Politics of South Carolina
- Political parties in South Carolina
- United States political party stubs
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