1958_South_Carolina_gubernatorial_election
1958 South Carolina gubernatorial election
Election
The 1958 South Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1958 to select the governor of the state of South Carolina. Ernest Hollings won the Democratic primary against rival Donald S. Russell and ran unopposed in the general election becoming the 106th governor.
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 County results Hollings: 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% 80-90% Russell: 50-60% | |||||||||||||||||
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Candidates
- Fritz Hollings, Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina and former State Representative from Charleston
- William C. Johnston
- Donald S. Russell, former President of the University of South Carolina and Assistant United States Secretary of State for Administration
The South Carolina Democratic Party held their primary for governor in the summer of 1958 and it became a heated contest between Lieutenant Governor Ernest Hollings and the former president of the University of South Carolina, Donald S. Russell. Hollings emerged victorious from the runoff and effectively became the next governor of South Carolina because there was no opposition in the general election.
| Democratic Primary | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Ernest Hollings | 158,159 | 41.9 |
| Donald S. Russell | 132,099 | 35.0 |
| William C. Johnston | 86,981 | 23.1 |
Results
| Democratic Primary Runoff | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| Ernest Hollings | 190,691 | 56.8 | +14.9 |
| Donald S. Russell | 145,162 | 43.2 | +8.2 |
The general election was held on November 4, 1958 and Ernest Hollings was elected the next governor of South Carolina without opposition. Being a non-presidential election and few contested races, turnout was much lower than the Democratic primary election.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Ernest Hollings | 77,714 | 100.0 | 0.0 | |
| No party | Write-Ins | 26 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
| Majority | 77,688 | 100.0 | 0.0 | ||
| Turnout | 77,740 | 14.5 | |||
| Democratic hold | |||||
- Jordan, Frank E. The Primary State: A History of the Democratic Party in South Carolina, 1876–1962. pp. 48–49.
- "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 I. Columbia, South Carolina: 1959, p. 8.
| Preceded by 1954 |
South Carolina gubernatorial elections | Succeeded by 1962 |