1896 United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina

none February 2026 September 2023 The 1896 United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina were held on November 3, 1896, to select seven Representatives for two-year terms from the state of South Carolina. Five Democratic incumbents were re-elected, one Republican incumbent was defeated, and the open seat was retained by the Democrats. The composition of the state delegation after the election was solely Democratic. 1st congressional district Incumbent Republican Congressman George W. Murray of the 1st congressional district, in office since 1896, was defeated by Democratic challenger William Elliott. General election results South Carolina's 1st congressional district election results, 1896 Democratic Party (United States) William Elliott 4,652 63.7 +4.6 |- | style="color:inherit;background:#FF3333" | | Reorganized Republican | George W. Murray (incumbent) | align="right" | 2,478 | align="right" | 33.9 | align="right" | N/A |- Republican Party (United States) W. Cecil Cohen 173 2.4 N/A No party Write-Ins 2 0.0 0.0 2,174 29.8 +11.6 7,305 |- | Democratic Party (United States) | colspan=5 |Democratic gain from Republican |- 2nd congressional district Incumbent Democratic Congressman W. Jasper Talbert of the 2nd congressional district, in office since 1893, defeated Republican challenger B.P. Chatfield. General election results South Carolina's 2nd congressional district election results, 1896 Democratic Party (United States) W. Jasper Talbert (incumbent) 7,999 92.4 -7.1 Republican Party (United States) B.P. Chatfield 635 7.3 +7.3 No party Write-Ins 21 0.3 -0.2 7,364 85.1 -13.9 8,655 |- | Democratic Party (United States) | colspan=5 |Democratic hold |- 3rd congressional district Incumbent Democratic Congressman Asbury Latimer of the 3rd congressional district, in office since 1893, won the Democratic primary and defeated two Republican candidates in the general election. Democratic primary Democratic primaryCandidateVotes% Asbury Latimer 9,136 67.7 William T. Wideman 1,955 14.5 Joseph L. Keitt 1,255 9.3 J.W. Bowden 1,152 8.5 General election results South Carolina's 3rd congressional district election results, 1896 Democratic Party (United States) Asbury Latimer (incumbent) 9,746 92.0 +10.7 Republican Party (United States) A.C. Merreck 659 6.2 N/A |- | style="color:inherit;background:#FF3333" | | Reorganized Republican | Clarence Gray | align="right" | 192 | align="right" | 1.8 | align="right" | N/A |- 9,087 85.8 +18.4 10,597 |- | Democratic Party (United States) | colspan=5 |Democratic hold |- 4th congressional district Incumbent Democratic Congressman Stanyarne Wilson of the 4th congressional district, in office since 1895, won the Democratic primary and defeated two Republican candidates in the general election. Democratic primary Democratic primaryCandidateVotes% Stanyarne Wilson 9,500 62.3 Joseph T. Johnson 5,694 37.3 Hugh L. Farley 63 0.4 General election results South Carolina's 4th congressional district election results, 1896 Democratic Party (United States) Stanyarne Wilson (incumbent) 11,230 92.2 +17.1 Republican Party (United States) P.S. Suber 507 4.2 N/A |- | style="color:inherit;background:#FF3333" | | Reorganized Republican | D.T. Bounds | align="right" | 443 | align="right" | 3.6 | align="right" | N/A |- No party Write-Ins 1 0.0 -0.2 10,723 88.0 +37.6 12,181 |- | Democratic Party (United States) | colspan=5 |Democratic hold |- 5th congressional district Incumbent Democratic Congressman Thomas J. Strait of the 5th congressional district, in office since 1893, won the Democratic primary and defeated Republican John F. Jones in the general election. Democratic primary Democratic primaryCandidateVotes% Thomas J. Strait 5,362 46.7 David E. Finley 3,585 31.3 W.D. Trantham 2,520 22.0 Democratic primary runoffCandidateVotes%±% Thomas J. Strait 6,291 57.3 +10.6 David E. Finley 4,691 42.7 +11.4 General election results South Carolina's 5th congressional district election results, 1896 Democratic Party (United States) Thomas J. Strait (incumbent) 8,511 91.0 +23.4 Republican Party (United States) John F. Jones 838 9.0 -8.0 7,673 82.0 +31.4 9,349 |- | Democratic Party (United States) | colspan=5 |Democratic hold |- 6th congressional district Incumbent Democratic Congressman John L. McLaurin of the 6th congressional district, in office since 1893, defeated two Republican candidates in the general election. General election results South Carolina's 6th congressional district election results, 1896 Democratic Party (United States) John L. McLaurin (incumbent) 9,725 87.7 +10.8 Republican Party (United States) J.E. Wilson 878 7.9 N/A |- | style="color:inherit;background:#FF3333" | | Reorganized Republican | George Henry McKie | align="right" | 482 | align="right" | 4.3 | align="right" | N/A |- No party Write-Ins 9 0.1 +0.1 8,847 79.8 +26.0 11,094 |- | Democratic Party (United States) | colspan=5 |Democratic hold |- 7th congressional district special election The seat for the 7th congressional district was declared vacant by the Republican controlled Congress in 1896. A special election was called to be held simultaneously with the regular election and J. William Stokes defeated two Republican candidates in the election. General election results South Carolina's 7th congressional district special election results, 1896 Democratic Party (United States) J. William Stokes 8,223 88.2 +15.2 Republican Party (United States) T.B. Johnson 1,068 11.5 N/A |- | style="color:inherit;background:#FF3333" | | Independent Republican | D.A. Perrin | align="right" | 26 | align="right" | 0.3 | align="right" | N/A |- No party Write-Ins 1 0.0 -0.7 7,155 76.7 +30.0 9,318 |- | Democratic Party (United States) | colspan=5 |Democratic hold |- 7th congressional district J. William Stokes, the winner of the previous election for the 7th congressional district, defeated Altamount Moses in the Democratic primary and two Republican candidates in the general election. Democratic primary Democratic primaryCandidateVotes% J. William Stokes 3,302 53.6 Altamount Moses 2,855 46.4 General election results South Carolina's 7th congressional district election results, 1896 Democratic Party (United States) J. William Stokes 8,065 85.6 -2.6 Republican Party (United States) T.B. Johnson 1,342 14.2 +2.7 |- | style="color:inherit;background:#FF3333" | | Independent Republican | D.A. Perrin | align="right" | 22 | align="right" | 0.2 | align="right" | -0.1 |- 6,723 71.4 -5.3 9,429 |- | Democratic Party (United States) | colspan=5 |Democratic hold |- See also United States House of Representatives elections, 1896 South Carolina gubernatorial election, 1896 South Carolina's congressional districts References Jordan Frank E The Primary State: A History of the Democratic Party in South Carolina, 1876-1962 103–104, 109, 113, 122 "Report of the Secretary of State to the General Assembly of South Carolina. Election Returns." Reports and Resolutions of the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina at the Regular Session Commencing January 12, 1897. Volume I. Columbia, SC: 1897, pp. 4–7. United States House of Representatives 1896 South Carolina