The 1968 South Carolina United States Senate election was held on November 5, 1968, to select the U.S. Senator from the state of South Carolina. Incumbent Democratic Senator Fritz Hollings easily defeated Republicanstate senatorMarshall Parker in a rematch of the election two years earlier to win his first full term.
Fritz Hollings, the incumbent Senator, easily defeated his primary opponent, .[1]
1968 Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in South Carolina
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Democratic
Fritz Hollings (incumbent)
308,016
78.3
Democratic
84,913
21.7
Majority
223,103
56.6
Total votes
392,929
100.0
Republican primary[]
Marshall Parker, the state senator from Oconee County in the Upstate, was persuaded by South Carolina Republicans to enter the race and he did not face a primary challenge.
General election campaign[]
After a close election loss to Fritz Hollings in 1966, the Republicans felt that Parker might have a chance at defeating Hollings by riding Nixon's coattails in the general election. However, the Republicans did not provide Parker with the financial resources to compete and he subsequently lost by a bigger margin to Hollings than two years prior.
Election results[]
South Carolina U.S. Senate Election, 1968
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
±%
Democratic
Fritz Hollings (incumbent)
404,060
61.9%
-10.6%
Republican
Marshall Parker
248,780
38.1%
-10.6%
No party
Write-Ins
15
0.0%
0.0%
Majority
155,280
23.8%
+21.2%
Turnout
652,855
76.5%
+27.4%
Democratichold
See also[]
List of United States senators from South Carolina
"Supplemental Report of the Secretary of State to the General Assembly of South Carolina." Reports and Resolutions of South Carolina to the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina. Volume II. Columbia, SC: 1969, p. 19.
Kalk, Bruce H. (2001). The Origins of the Southern Strategy: Two-Party Competition in South. Lexington Books. p. 86.