The 2014 United States Senate election in South Carolina took place on November 4, 2014, concurrently with a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

for South Carolina's other Senate seat, as well as other elections to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

in other states and elections to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican

Lindsey Graham Lindsey Olin Graham (; born July 9, 1955) is an American politician and attorney serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from South Carolina, a seat he has held since 2003. A membe ...

won reelection to a third term. He faced Democratic state senator

Brad Hutto C. Bradley Hutto (born August 6, 1957) is an American politician currently serving as a Democratic member of the South Carolina Senate, representing Senate District 40 since 1996. He is the Democratic Minority Leader in the Senate, succeeding Ni ...

and Independent

Thomas Ravenel Thomas Jonathan Jackson Ravenel is an American politician and reality television star. He is the son of former representative Arthur Ravenel Jr. from South Carolina. He starred for five seasons on the Bravo reality-television series ''Southern C ...

in the general election. He defeated both of them by a 15-point margin. As of 2022, this is the last time that Barnwell County, Darlington County, and Calhoun County voted Democratic in a Senate election.

Republican primary

Of all the Republican senators up for re-election in the 2014 cycle, Graham was considered one of the most vulnerable to a primary challenge, largely due to his low approval ratings and reputation for working with and compromising with Democrats. He expected a primary challenge from conservative activists, including the

Tea Party movement The Tea Party movement was an American fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party that began in 2007, catapulted into the mainstream by Congressman Ron Paul's presidential campaign. The movement expanded in resp ...

, and

Chris Chocola Joseph Christopher Chocola (born February 24, 1962) is an American businessman, lawyer, and former politician who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative from Indiana's 2nd congressional district from 2003 to 20 ...

, president of the

Club for Growth The Club for Growth is a 501(c)(4) political organization active in the United States, with a fiscally conservative agenda focused on tax cuts and other economic policy issues. Club for Growth's largest funders are billionaires Jeff Yass a ...

, indicated that his organization would support a primary challenge if an acceptable standard-bearer emerged. However, a serious challenger to Graham failed to emerge and he was widely viewed as likely to win, which has been ascribed to his "deft maneuvering" and "aggressive" response to the challenge. He befriended potential opponents from the state's congressional delegation and helped them with fundraising and securing their preferred committee assignments; he assembled a "daunting multimillion-dollar political operation" dubbed the "Graham

machine A machine is a physical system that uses power to apply forces and control movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to natural biological macromol ...

" that built six regional offices across the state and enlisted the support of thousands of paid staffers and volunteers, including over 5,000

precinct captain A precinct captain, also known as a precinct chairman, precinct delegate, precinct committee officer or precinct committeeman, is an elected official in the American political party system. The captain establishes a direct link between a politica ...

s; he assembled a "staggering" campaign warchest and "blanketed" the state with positive ads; he focused on constituent services and local issues; and he refused to "pander" to the Tea Party supporters, instead confronting them head-on, arguing that the Republican party needs to be more inclusive.

Candidates

Declared

* Det Bowers, pastor and businessman * Lee Bright, state senator * Richard Cash, businessman and candidate for

South Carolina's 3rd congressional district South Carolina's 3rd congressional district is a congressional district in western South Carolina bordering both Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and North Carolina. It includes all of Abbeville County, South Carolina, Abbeville, Anderson County, ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

* Bill Connor, attorney, lieutenant colonel in the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed ...

and candidate for

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

* Benjamin Dunn, attorney *

, incumbent U.S. Senator *

Nancy Mace Nancy Ruth Mace (born December 4, 1977) is an American politician who has been the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for South Carolina's 1st congressional district since 2021. She is a member of the Republican Party (U ...

, businesswoman and author

Withdrew

* Dave Feliciano, police officer

Declined

* Bruce Carroll, co-founder of

GOProud GOProud was an American tax-exempt 527 organization supported by fiscally conservative gay men, lesbians, and their allies. GOProud advocated for "free markets, limited government, and a respect for individual rights" and worked at the federal an ...

and blogger at gay conservative site GayPatriot * Tom Davis, state senator *

Trey Gowdy Harold Watson "Trey" Gowdy III (born August 22, 1964) is an American television news presenter, former politician and former federal prosecutor who served as the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2019. His district included much of the Upsta ...

, U.S. Representative *

Mark Sanford Marshall Clement "Mark" Sanford Jr. (born May 28, 1960) is an American politician and author who served as the U.S. representative for South Carolina's 1st congressional district from 1995 to 2001 and from 2013 to 2019, and as the 115th govern ...

, U.S. Representative and former

governor of South Carolina The governor of South Carolina is the head of government of South Carolina. The governor is the ''ex officio'' commander-in-chief of the National Guard when not called into federal service. The governor's responsibilities include making year ...

Mick Mulvaney John Michael “Mick” Mulvaney (born July 21, 1967) is an American politician who served as director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) from February 2017 until March 2020, and as acting White House chief of staff from January 2019 un ...

, U.S. Representative *

, former South Carolina state treasurer (running as an independent) *

Joe Wilson Addison Graves "Joe" Wilson Sr. (born July 31, 1947) is an American politician and attorney serving as the U.S. representative for since 2001. A member of the Republican Party, his district stretches from Columbia to the Georgia–South Caro ...

, U.S. Representative

Endorsements

Debate

Polling

* ^ Internal poll for Lindsey Graham campaign * * Internal poll for Lee Bright campaign * ^ Internal poll for Lindsey Graham campaign

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

, state senator * Jay Stamper, entrepreneur

Declined

Jim Hodges James Hovis Hodges (born November 19, 1956) is an American businessman, attorney, and politician who served as the 114th governor of South Carolina from 1999 to 2003. A former member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, Hodges is t ...

, former

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Declared

* Victor Kocher, nominee for the U.S. Senate

in 2002 IN, In or in may refer to: Dans * India (country code IN) * Indiana, United States (postal code IN) * Ingolstadt, Germany (license plate code IN) * In, Russia, a town in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast Businesses and organizations * Independen ...

Independent

In March 2014, with only controversial businessman and prankster Jay Stamper running for the Democrats, Dick Harpootlian, former chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party, had stated that business leaders were working on an effort to recruit a potential independent candidate to run in case Graham was defeated in the primary. Such a "contingency" plan was rendered moot by the entry of Democratic state senator

into the race. Former Republican state treasurer Thomas Ravenel had confirmed that was considering running for the Senate as an independent and was likely to do so if Lindsey Graham won the Republican primary. In April 2014, with Graham polling strongly in the primary, Ravenel announced he would run. He officially announced his candidacy on July 4.

Candidates

Declared

, former Republican state treasurer

General election

Debates

Graham initially declined to debate his opponents. A spokesman said that his campaign was "in discussions with other groups, as well as looking at the schedule." Hutto said that Graham is "terrified at the thought of defending his own record in a public debate" and Ravenel said Graham's decision was "highly arrogant and disrespectful." Graham claimed he refused to debate because of the presence of independent candidate Thomas Ravenel, a convicted felon. He ultimately agreed to debate Hutto alone on October 27.
Complete video of debate
October 27, 2014

Fundraising

The following are

Federal Election Commission The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent agency of the United States government that enforces U.S. campaign finance laws and oversees U.S. federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Campaign ...

disclosures for the pre-primary reporting period.

Predictions

Polling

Results

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

* Barnwell (largest town: Barnwell) *

Calhoun John C. Calhoun (1782–1850) was the 7th vice president of the United States. Calhoun can also refer to: Surname * Calhoun (surname) Inhabited places in the United States *Calhoun, Georgia * Calhoun, Illinois *Calhoun, Kentucky * Calhoun, Louis ...

(largest town: St. Matthews) *

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

(largest city: Hartsville) *

Dillon Dillon may refer to: People *Dillon (surname) * Dillon (given name) *Dillon (singer) (born 1988), Brazilian singer * J. J. Dillon, primary ring name of American professional wrestler James Morrison (born 1942) Places Canada * Dillon, Saskatchewa ...

(Largest city:

)

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

(largest town:

) * McCormick (largest town: McCormick)

References

External links

U.S. Senate elections in South_Carolina, 2014
at

Ballotpedia Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...

Campaign contributions
at

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying, including a revolving door database which documents the individuals who have worked in both the public sector an ...

South Carolina U.S. Senate debate excerpts
'' OnTheIssues.org'' Official campaign websites
Det Bowers for U.S. Senate

Lee Bright for U.S. Senate

Richard Cash for U.S. Senate

Bill Connor for U.S. Senate

Benjamin Dunn for U.S. Senate

Lindsey Graham for U.S. Senate

Brad Hutto for U.S. Senate

Victor Kocher for U.S. Senate

Nancy Mace for U.S. Senate

Jay Stamper for U.S. Senate
{{2014 United States elections

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

Withdrew

Declined

Endorsements

Debate

Polling

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

Declined

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Declared

Independent

Candidates

Declared

General election

Debates

Fundraising

Predictions

Polling

Results

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

See also

References

External links