Voting Twice For U.S. Senate is Rare

It’s not often that Palmetto State voters can cast ballots for the two U.S. Senate seats in the same election cycle as they will in November.  In fact, this year’s election will be just the fourth time in the state’s history that voters get two bites at the Senate apple in the same election.
The last time?  1966.  Before that, Palmetto State voters twice elected two senators in the same year, each of which came at starting points for the nation.  The first instance, of course, was in 1789 when the U.S. Senate got started.  The second came in 1868 during Reconstruction when South Carolina was allowed to have two senators in Washington again after the bloody Civil War.  In both instances, the candidates who won ran for seats with staggered terms in keeping with the Constitution.
But turn to the election in 1966.  That’s when U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond was up for re-election on his normal six-year staggered electoral cycle.  During this election, however, he ran for the first time as a Republican, not as a Democrat.  In the November election, Thurmond trounced Upstate state Sen. Bradley Morrah by a 24-point margin (271,297 votes to 164,955 votes).
But the state’s other Senate seat also was up for election because of a vacancy created in April 1965 when the officeholder, Olin D. Johnston, died.   His replacement was Gov. Donald Russell, who resigned so he could be appointed to the seat.
Interestingly, during the 1962 gubernatorial campaign, Russell campaigned that he would serve his full term and not seek a higher office.  But once in the Senate, he changed his mind and decided to run.  In accordance to the rules, Russell had to face the voters at the next statewide election, which was 1966, not when the six-year term ran out in 1968.
So in a special primary election in 1966, Russell faced former Gov. Fritz Hollings, who had lost a primary bid against Johnston in 1962.  Hollings scored a comparatively easy victory over Russell with a 22-point margin which came in part because of enmity of voters who didn’t like that Russell essentially  appointed himself to Johnston’s seat.
In the special general election in November, Hollings scored a narrow win over his friend, state Sen. Marshall Parker of Oconee County, who switched to the GOP that year to run for the seat.  The race was down to the wire with Hollings picking up a win by just 11,758 votes (223,790 votes to 212,032 votes).    It was so close that Hollings recalled this week that the results weren’t declared until the Thursday after the Tuesday election.  In 1968 when more people turned out because of the presidential election, Hollings again faced Parker, but won handily by 155,280 votes.
With this history as background, is there much that can be applied from the two elections 48 years ago to today’s battles?  Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham is seeking re-election to what was Thurmond’s seat and GOP U.S. Sen. Tim Scott faces  voters statewide for the first time  (Scott  appointed last year to take the place of U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint who resigned.)
Answer:  Not much.
Graham, seen widely as a national leader, is facing challenges from four petulant candidates who don’t think him to be conservative enough, despite a high rating as a conservative.
“I don’t see any evidence a serious threat is materializing,” said GOP analyst Chip Felkel of Greenville.
Meanwhile, Scott has two Democratic opponents who will duke it out in a primary, but he apparently will face no Republican opposition.
The outcomes will probably boil down to resources — who has the most money — just as it did in 1966.  That year, Democrats poured money into the campaigns of Hollings and the Democratic gubernatorial candidate to secure wins.  This year, Democrats likely will focus money on state Sen. Vincent Sheheen’s second bid to beat Gov. Nikki Haley.  Moderate Republicans will steer money to the cash-flush Graham, while challengers will try to peel it away.
Bottom line:  Look for Graham and Scott to win, unless something tremendously unexpected happens.
 
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Statehouse Report.  He can be reached at:  brack@statehousereport.com.