history-SC-GOP

5 HISTORICAL FACTS that explain SC’s modern Republican Party

Click a button to reveal an event that shaped the 150-year evolution of the Republican Party in the Palmetto State.

Home

Republican Joseph Hayne Rainey of South Carolina, at left, was the first African American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. Born into slavery, he was freed in the 1840s by his father purchasing the freedom of his entire family and himself. He served in Congress from 1870 to 1879. Library of Congress photo.

Although blacks today identify overwhelmingly with the Democratic Party, African Americans’ first taste of political power in the Palmetto State came through the Republican Party. The S.C. GOP was formed in 1867, at the end of the Civil War. The party ruled the state during the Reconstruction Era (1865-1877) and sent six black representatives to Congress during that time. Republican power ended abruptly, however. In South Carolina, the landed white elites of the antebellum period recoiled against Reconstruction policies. And rightly or wrongly, the state’s Republican leaders were increasingly coming to be seen as corrupt. In Washington, President Rutherford B. Hayes recalled federal troops and formally ended Reconstruction in 1877. With that, Democrats were poised for a period of unprecedented dominance and one-party rule in South Carolina. It would be nearly nine decades before Republicans seriously contended again for power.

African Americans first attained political power through the GOP

From the end of Reconstruction until 1948, Democrats held the S.C. governor’s mansion and every seat in the House of Representatives, along with most other local, state and federal offices. But when the national party adopted pro-civil rights planks for its platform at its 1948 convention, 35 Southern delegates walked out. Reconvening in Birmingham, Ala., a few days later, the splinter group called itself the States Rights Party. These “Dixiecrats” nominated S.C. Gov. Strom Thurmond, a lifelong Democrat, as their presidential candidate. The party carried South Carolina with 71 percent of the vote in that fall’s general election. The States Rights Party fielded no state or local candidates and dissolved soon after the 1948 election. However, other fissures in the Democrats’ dominance of South Carolina appeared. In the 1952 presidential election, for example, the group South Carolinians for Eisenhower, made up primarily of disaffected Democrats, nearly delivered the state to the Republican candidate. And in 1956, Thurmond ran a successful write-in campaign against Democrat nominee Edgar Brown for a U.S. Senate seat, although it would be another eight years before Thurmond switched parties.

‘Snub’ at 1948 national convention sets stage for Republican resurgence in SC

Many South Carolina Democrats left the party after the 1948 national convention, though they didn’t necessarily become Republicans. For at least another decade, a Democratic primary remained tantamount to winning office in most elections. That began to change in 1961. Charles Boineau of Richland County, denouncing "socialistic programs" and pledging a "real fight for full-time conservatism," won a special election to become the first Republican in the S.C. House since 1900. His victory attracted national attention and signaled the emergence of a recognizable two-party system in South Carolina politics. The next year, state Rep. Floyd Spence of Lexington bolted the Democratic Party for the GOP. U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond followed in 1964. In 1965, the U.S. House Democratic Caucus stripped South Carolina Rep. Albert Watson of his seniority for supporting Barry Goldwater in the 1964 presidential election. Declaring he would "not sit around and be bullied by northern liberals," Watson resigned in February 1965, changed parties, then won his seat back in a June special election. More GOP gains followed. In 1975, for instance, James Edwards became the first Republican governor since Reconstruction.

Charles Boineau of Richland County becomes first Republican in SC House in 60 years

This graphic, charting party affiliation of the S.C. House of Representatives, roughly reflects party affiliation of the state as a whole, with the GOP making big gains — and becoming the majority party — since 1960.

First-in-the-South primary makes SC player in national GOP politics

Ronald Reagan defeated John Connally and George H.W. Bush in the S.C. Republican Party’s first presidential primary in 1980. With just one exception since — Newt Gingrinch in 2012 — the winner has gone on to capture the party’s nomination. Historically, the primary has been held early in the cycle, with voters acting as a firewall against insurgent candidates. The campaigning can be bare-knuckled. In 1980, Connally had the endorsement of U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond, the state's senior senator. However, Reagan held a wild card: campaign advisor Lee Atwater, a Columbia native, who leaked a story that Connally was “trying to buy the black vote.” In 2000, Texas Gov. George W. Bush faced Arizona Sen. John McCain. A rumor spread that McCain had fathered an illegitimate black child, when in fact, he had adopted a child from Bangladesh. Bush’s campaign denied spreading the rumor, but the damage was done.

Carroll Campbell becomes first two-term Republican governor, 1987-95

Only the second Republican governor since Reconstruction, former congressman Carroll Campbell was the first to serve consecutive terms. His administration marked a subtle shift in the state party’s focus: Away from overt racial politics and a critique of and increasingly liberal Democratic party, toward economic and business themes. Campbell's election also was a tipping point in a trend that had been building for years and that continues today. Republican presidential candidates have won a plurality of the popular vote in 12 of the past 13 general elections and an outright majority in nine. GOP gubernatorial candidates have won eight of the past 11 elections. In 1995, Republicans took control of the S.C. House of Representatives for the first time since 1877 and five years later gained controll of the Senate, too. Currently, Republicans hold all nine statewide elected offices, majorities in both houses of the General Assembly, six of seven congressional seats and both U.S. Senate seats.

5 HISTORICAL FACTS that explain SC’s modern Republican Party

African Americans first attained political power through the GOP

African Americans first attained political power through GOP

‘Snub’ at 1948 national convention sets stage for GOP resurgence in SC

Charles Boineau of Richland Co. becomes first Republican in SC House in 60 years

Ronald Reagan defeated John Connally and George H.W. Bush in the S.C. Republican Party’s first presidential primary in 1980. With just one exception since — Newt Gingrinch in 2012 — the winner has gone on to capture the party’s nomination. Historically, the primary has been held early in the cycle, with voters acting as a firewall against insurgent candidates. The campaigning can be bare-knuckled. In 1980, Connally had the endorsement of U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond, the state's senior senator. However, Reagan held a wild card: campaign advisor Lee Atwater, a Columbia native, who leaked a story that Connally was “trying to guy the black vote.” In 2000, Texas Gov. George W. Bush faced Arizona Sen. John McCain. A rumor spread that McCain had fathered an illegitimate black child, when in fact, he had adopted a child from Bangladesh. Bush’s campaign denied spreading the rumor, but the damage was done.

1st-in-South primary makes SC player in national GOP politics