1996 United States Senate election in South Carolina

none March 2026 September 2023 March 2019 August 2020 1996 United States Senate election in South Carolina South Carolina presidential no 1990 United States Senate election in South Carolina 1990 2002 United States Senate election in South Carolina 2002 November 5, 1996 150x150px Strom Thurmond.jpg Strom Thurmond Republican Party (United States) 620,626 53.38% 3x4.svg Elliott Close Democratic Party (United States) 511,226 43.99% 1996 United States Senate election in South Carolina results map by county.svg 230px County resultsThurmond: #ffb2b2 40–50% #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% #d72f30 70–80%Close: #a5b0ff 40–50% #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond Republican Party (United States) Strom Thurmond Republican Party (United States) The 1996 South Carolina United States Senate election was held on November 5, 1996, to select the U.S. Senator from the state of South Carolina. Incumbent Republican Senator Strom Thurmond won re-election against Democratic challenger Elliott Springs Close for an eighth term in office. The margin, however, was one of the closest in Thurmond's 48-year Senate career. At the age of 1902 12 02 1996 11 05, Thurmond became the oldest person ever to be re-elected to the United States Senate. He served out the entirety of his final term and left the Senate on January 3, 2003, at age 100 years and 29 days. As of , this is the last time the Republican nominee for South Carolina's Class 2 Senate seat was not a member of the Graham family. Democratic primary The South Carolina Democratic Party held their primary on June 11, 1996. Elliott Springs Close, a 43-year-old political novice from Columbia, entered the Democratic primary and faced opposition from black photographer Cecil J. Williams. Close was a wealthy heir of a textile business, a brother-in-law of President Clinton's chief of staff Erskine Bowles, who styled himself as a fiscal conservative and a social moderate.October 2020 Democratic Primaryhttps://scvotes.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Election_Report_1995-1996.pdf SOUTH CAROLINA ELECTION REPORT 1995-1996 South Carolina State Election Commission May 1997 Democratic Party (United States) Elliott Springs Close 102,953 62.12% Democratic Party (United States) Cecil J. Williams 62,783 37.88% 165,736 100.00% Republican primary The South Carolina Republican Party held their primary on June 11, 1996, and the contest pitted 93-year-old incumbent Senator Strom Thurmond against two relatively unknown candidates. Secretary of State James Miles was the only Republican statewide official who had not endorsed Strom Thurmond and it was rumored that he was considering entering the primary.June 2021 Thurmond's press secretary, Mark Goodin, criticized Miles for not endorsing Thurmond and told those who contributed to Miles campaign fund that they were contributing to a contest against Thurmond, not the state's other Senator, Democrat Fritz Hollings. Miles soon endorsed Thurmond which left Harold G. Worley, a state representative from Myrtle Beach, and Charlie Thompson, an educator from Charleston, as the only opponents to Thurmond's election. Worley spent $600,000 of his own money and based his campaign almost solely on Thurmond's age. He questioned Thurmond's mental ability to make decisions and whether he had the capacity to fill out a full term, which would put Thurmond at one hundred years old. Nevertheless, Thurmond cruised to a primary victory and Worley only carried Horry County. Republican Primary Republican Party (United States) Strom Thurmond (incumbent) 132,145 60.62% Republican Party (United States) Harold G. Worley 65,666 30.12% Republican Party (United States) Charlie Thompson 20,185 9.26% 217,996 100.00% General election campaign The race between Thurmond and Close boiled down to whether Thurmond could retain the affection of voters who had re-elected him over and over or whether Close could convince the voters that Thurmond's age was an impediment to effective service for the state. Thurmond therefore adopted a non-confrontational approach to the campaign. He chose to not debate Close, not only because he had not debated an opponent since Olin D. Johnston in the 1950 Senate election, but also because it would only emphasize the 50-year age difference between the candidates. Thurmond energetically traversed the state greeting the voters and pointed out to them that with his experience, he could more effectively serve the state than a political neophyte. Close ran television advertisements that highlighted the age issue by declaring that although Thurmond had admirably served the state for over fifty years, it was time for someone new to represent South Carolina. He poured almost a million dollars into his campaign, but his campaign never remained focused. For instance, trying to not appear too wealthy, Close traded his fancy foreign car for a Cadillac. He acquired a speeding ticket in the Cadillac and a newspaper criticized him for driving a luxury automobile. Frustrated, Close then switched his Cadillac for a Buick. Another instance of his jumbled campaign came when said that his family's textile factories did not lay off an employee during the Great Depression. Yet a week after this statement, three mills were closed and 850 employees were out of work. By the day of the election on November 5, polls had shown that the voters thought it was time for Thurmond to retire, but they did not want to throw him out of office. Close spent almost a million dollars of his fortune to defeat Thurmond and his decision to raise a million dollars from outside sources was attacked by the Thurmond campaign of a lack of confidence by Close in his own campaign. Thurmond spent a little more than $2.6 million on the race and was said to have "dodged the bullet" by The State reporter Lee Bandy after his victory.Bass, p321 The campaign aides of Thurmond stated he could have been defeated had either former Governor Richard Riley or 5th district congressman John M. Spratt, Jr. run against him.February 2025 Election results South Carolina U.S. Senate Election, 1996 Republican Party (United States) Strom Thurmond (incumbent) 620,326 53.38% -10.83% Democratic Party (United States) Elliott Springs Close 511,226 43.99% +11.47% Libertarian Party (United States) Richard T. Quillian 12,994 1.12% -0.72% Reform Party (United States) Peter J. Ashy 9,741 0.84% N/A Natural Law Party (United States) Annette C. Estes 7,697 0.66% N/A 141 0.01% N/A 1,162,125 100.00% 109,100 9.39% -22.30% 1,162,125 64.0% +8.8% |- | Republican Party (United States) | colspan=5 |Republican hold |- See also 1996 United States Senate elections List of United States senators from South Carolina Notes References Bass Jack Jack Bass Marilyn W. Thompson Marilyn W. Thompson Strom: The Complicated Personal and Political Life of Strom Thurmond https://archive.org/details/stromcomplicated00bass registration 2005 PublicAffairs 319–321 9781586482978 Joshua Green A Gambling Man https://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200401/green-brieflives The Atlantic January 1, 2004 January 28, 2008 Kevin Sack The Age Issue Dogs Senator Thurmond, 93 https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C01EEDE1739F932A25755C0A960958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all The New York Times June 11, 1996 January 28, 2008 South Carolina http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,985484,00.html https://web.archive.org/web/20070626122618/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,985484,00.html dead June 26, 2007 Time November 4, 1996 January 28, 2008 South Carolina 1996 Category:1996 South Carolina elections Category:Strom Thurmond