South Carolina, Secretary of State

South Carolina held an election for secretary of state on November 6, 2018. The candidate filing deadline was March 30, 2018.

SETTING THE STAGE
Heading into the 2018 election, the secretary of state of South Carolina was Mark Hammond (R), who was first elected in 2002 and was re-elected in 2006, 2010, and 2014. Hammond announced on May 2, 2017, that he would seek election to a fifth term in 2018.
In 2018, South Carolina was under a Republican trifecta. It had held this status since former Gov. Mark Sanford (R) took office in 2003. South Carolina was also a Republican triplex.
South Carolina was won by the Republican candidate in each of the presidential elections between 2000 and 2016. The widest margin of victory was George W. Bush's 17 percent margin in 2004, while the narrowest was John McCain's nine percent margin in 2008.

State election history

This section provides an overview of federal and state elections in South Carolina from 2000 to 2016. All data comes from the South Carolina Election Commission.

Historical elections

Presidential elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the presidential election in South Carolina every year from 2000 to 2016.

Election results (President of the United States), South Carolina 2000-2016

Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Donald Trump	54.9%	Hillary Clinton	40.7%	14.2%
2012	Mitt Romney	54.6%	Barack Obama	44.1%	10.5%
2008	John McCain	53.9%	Barack Obama	44.9%	9.0%
2004	George W. Bush	58.0%	John Kerry	40.9%	17.1%
2000	George W. Bush	56.8%	Al Gore	40.9%	15.9%

U.S. Senate elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of U.S. Senate races in South Carolina from 2000 to 2016. Every state has two Senate seats, and each seat goes up for election every six years. The terms of the seats are staggered so that roughly one-third of the seats are up every two years.

Election results (U.S. Senator), South Carolina 2000-2016

Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Tim Scott	60.6%	Thomas Dixon	36.9%	23.7%
2014	Tim Scott	61.1%	Joyce Dickerson	37.1%	24.0%
2014	Lindsey Graham	54.3%	Brad Hutto	38.8%	15.5%
2010	Jim DeMint	61.5%	Alvin Greene	27.7%	33.8%
2008	Lindsey Graham	57.5%	Bob Conley	42.3%	15.2%
2004	Jim DeMint	53.7%	Inez Tenenbaum	44.1%	9.6%
2002	Lindsey Graham	54.4%	Alex Sanders	44.2%	10.2%

Gubernatorial elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the four gubernatorial elections held between 2000 and 2016. Gubernatorial elections are held every four years in South Carolina.

Election results (Governor), South Carolina 2000-2016

Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2014	Nikki Haley	55.9%	Vincent Sheheen	41.4%	14.5%
2010	Nikki Haley	51.4%	Vincent Sheheen	46.9%	4.5%
2006	Mark Sanford	55.1%	Kerry Healey	44.8%	10.3%
2002	Mark Sanford	52.8%	Jim Hodges	47.0%	5.8%

Congressional delegation, 2000-2016

This chart shows the number of Democrats and Republicans who were elected to represent South Carolina in the U.S. House from 2000 to 2016. Elections for U.S. House seats are held every two years.

Congressional delegation, South Carolina 2000-2016

Year	Republicans	Republicans (%)	Democrats	Democrats (%)	Balance of power
2016	6	85.7%	1	14.3%	R+5
2014	6	85.7%	1	14.3%	R+5
2012	6	85.7%	1	14.3%	R+5
2010	5	83.3%	1	16.7%	R+4
2008	4	66.7%	2	33.3%	R+2
2006	4	66.7%	2	33.3%	R+2
2004	4	66.7%	2	33.3%	R+2
2002	4	66.7%	2	33.3%	R+2
2000	4	66.7%	2	33.3%	R+2

Trifectas, 1992-2017

A state government trifecta occurs when one party controls both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office.

South Carolina Party Control: 1992-2020
No Democratic trifectas • Eighteen years of Republican trifectas

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Governor	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
Senate	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
House	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

Demographics

Demographic data for South Carolina

	South Carolina	U.S.
Total population:	4,894,834	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	30,061	3,531,905
Gender
Female:	51.4%	50.8%
Race and ethnicity**
White:	67.2%	73.6%
Black/African American:	27.5%	12.6%
Asian:	1.4%	5.1%
Native American:	0.3%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.1%	0.2%
Two or more:	2%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	5.3%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	85.6%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	25.8%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$45,483	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	22%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in South Carolina.

As of July 2016, South Carolina's three largest cities were Charleston (pop. est. 135,000), Columbia (pop. est. 133,000), and North Charleston (pop. est. 111,000).