The 1914 United States Senate election in South Carolina was held on November 3, 1914 to select the U.S. Senator from the state of South Carolina. It was the first election in South Carolina in which the voters were able to choose the candidate in the general election. Incumbent Democratic Senator Ellison D. Smith won the Democratic primary and defeated nominal opposition in the general election to win another six-year term.
Coleman Livingston Blease, Governor of South Carolina from 1910 to 1914, was barred from seeking another term by the South Carolina constitution. He wanted to continue holding a public office so he challenged incumbent Senator Ellison D. Smith in the Democratic primary election for U.S. Senator. However, the voters were tired of Blease and he and those allied with him suffered defeat in the 1914 Democratic primaries on August 25.
South Carolina U.S. Senate Primary Election, 1914
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
±%
Democratic
Ellison D. Smith (incumbent)
72,256
54.7
Democratic
Coleman Livingston Blease
55,908
42.3
Democratic
Lang D. Jennings
2,400
1.8
Democratic
William P. Pollock
1,630
1.2
General election campaign[]
Since the end of Reconstruction in 1877, the Democratic Party dominated the politics of South Carolina and its statewide candidates were never seriously challenged. Smith did not campaign for the general election as there was no chance of defeat.
Results[]
South Carolina U.S. Senate Election, 1914
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
±%
Democratic
Ellison D. Smith (incumbent)
32,950
99.7
N/A
Socialist
James H. Roberts
89
0.3
N/A
Majority
32,861
99.4
N/A
Turnout
33,039
Democratichold
See also[]
List of United States senators from South Carolina
United States Senate elections, 1914
United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina, 1914
South Carolina gubernatorial election, 1914
References[]
Jordan, Frank E. The Primary State: A History of the Democratic Party in South Carolina, 1876-1962. pp. 63–64.
"Report of the Secretary of State to the General Assembly of South Carolina. Part II." Reports and Resolutions of the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina. Volume IV. Columbia, SC: 1915, p. 339.