How South Carolina has voted since 1960

South Carolina has 9 electoral votes in 2028. Since 1960 it has voted Democratic twice and Republican 15 times. It has backed the national winner in 11 of 17 elections. Donald Trump carried it in 2024 by 17.9 points, 16.4 points more Republican than the nation. In 2024, 62.3% of its eligible voters cast a ballot, ranking 37th among the 50 states and DC (nationally, 64.3%). It has voted Republican in every election since 1980. Its closest result was in 1980, when Ronald Reagan won it by 1.2 points.

  1. 1960Kennedy+2.5
  2. 1964Goldwater+17.8
  3. 1968Nixon+8.5
  4. 1972Nixon+42.7
  5. 1976Carter+13.0
  6. 1980Reagan+1.2
  7. 1984Reagan+28.0
  8. 1988Bush+23.9
  9. 1992Bush+8.1
  10. 1996Dole+5.8
  11. 2000Bush+16.0
  12. 2004Bush+17.1
  13. 2008McCain+9.0
  14. 2012Romney+10.5
  15. 2016Trump+14.3
  16. 2020Trump+11.7
  17. 2024Trump+17.9

Each box is one election: the winner in South Carolina and the margin in points. Darker boxes were won by 10 points or more, lighter by under 5.

Election night

7 p.m. ET

Polls close at 7 p.m. ET.

Also closing at 7 p.m. ET: FL, GA, VT, VA.

Times from the 2024 general election; states rarely change them, and they will be confirmed for 2028.

2028 ratings

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In Congress

Senate

House: 6 Republicans, 1 Democrat

All 7 members
  1. 1 Nancy Mace (R)
  2. 2 Joe Wilson (R)
  3. 3 Sheri Biggs (R)
  4. 4 William R. Timmons (R)
  5. 5 Ralph Norman (R)
  6. 6 James E. Clyburn (D)
  7. 7 Russell Fry (R)

From Congress.gov, as of Sept. 28, 2026. Vacant seats are not listed.

Margin by election

South Carolina margin by electionBars show the Democratic or Republican margin in South Carolina in each election since 1960; the line shows the national popular-vote margin. The table below has every figure.R+50R+30R+10D+10D+30D+501960: D+2.5 (nation D+0.2)'601964: R+17.8 (nation D+22.6)'641968: R+8.5 (nation R+0.7)'681972: R+42.7 (nation R+23.2)'721976: D+13.0 (nation D+2.1)'761980: R+1.2 (nation R+9.7)'801984: R+28.0 (nation R+18.2)'841988: R+23.9 (nation R+7.7)'881992: R+8.1 (nation D+5.6)'921996: R+5.8 (nation D+8.5)'962000: R+16.0 (nation D+0.5)'002004: R+17.1 (nation R+2.5)'042008: R+9.0 (nation D+7.3)'082012: R+10.5 (nation D+3.9)'122016: R+14.3 (nation D+2.1)'162020: R+11.7 (nation D+4.5)'202024: R+17.9 (nation R+1.5)'24

South Carolina margin National popular vote

By county

Donald Trump won 34 of South Carolina's 46 counties in 2024; Kamala Harris won 12.

Loading the county map…

Largest counties, 2024

CountyVotesMarginShift from 2020
Greenville County526,632R+11.1→R 8.1
Charleston County429,042D+2.8→D 0.7
Horry County411,908R+19.3→R 13.7
Richland County364,822D+17.3→D 10.9
Spartanburg County311,194R+16.8→R 12.3
York County300,118R+9.5→R 6.8
Lexington County293,806R+16.7→R 11.7
Berkeley County225,668R+8.1→R 6.2
Beaufort County208,806R+7.2→R 5.6
Anderson County196,592R+23.7→R 16.7

Biggest shifts from 2020 to 2024: toward the Republican, Cherokee County (18.4), Pickens County (17.9), Oconee County (17.9); toward the Democrat, Allendale County (13.6), Richland County (10.9), Orangeburg County (6.7) — in points of margin.

County returns from the MIT Election Data and Science Lab (official state data), 2000–2024. Margin is the Democrat's share minus the Republican's, of all votes cast.

Results by year

YearWinnerDemocratRepublicanOtherMarginNationTurnoutEV
2024 Donald TrumpTrumpHarris 40.4%1,028,452Trump 58.2%1,483,7471.4%R+17.9R+1.562.3%9
2020 Donald TrumpTrump lostBiden 43.4%1,091,541Trump 55.1%1,385,1031.5%R+11.7D+4.564.7%9
2016 Donald TrumpTrumpClinton 40.7%855,373Trump 54.9%1,155,3894.4%R+14.3D+2.157.3%9
2012 Mitt RomneyRomney lostObama 44.1%865,941Romney 54.6%1,071,6451.4%R+10.5D+3.956.9%9
2008 John McCainMcCain lostObama 44.9%862,449McCain 53.9%1,034,8961.2%R+9.0D+7.358.2%8
2004 George W. BushBushKerry 40.9%661,699Bush 58.0%937,9741.1%R+17.1R+2.553.0%8
2000 George W. BushBushGore 40.9%566,037Bush 56.9%786,8922.2%R+16.0D+0.549.3%8
1996 Bob DoleDole lostClinton 44.0%506,152Dole 49.9%573,339Perot 5.6%R+5.8D+8.544.1%8
1992 George H.W. BushBush lostClinton 39.9%479,514Bush 48.0%577,507Perot 11.6%R+8.1D+5.647.3%8
1988 George H.W. BushBushDukakis 37.6%370,554Bush 61.5%606,4430.9%R+23.9R+7.742.5%8
1984 Ronald ReaganReaganMondale 35.6%344,459Reagan 63.6%615,5390.9%R+28.0R+18.243.7%8
1980 Ronald ReaganReaganCarter 48.2%428,220Reagan 49.5%439,2772.3%R+1.2R+9.742.4%8
1976 Jimmy CarterCarterCarter 56.2%450,807Ford 43.1%346,1490.7%D+13.0D+2.1—8
1972 Richard NixonNixonMcGovern 27.9%Nixon 70.6%1.5%R+42.7R+23.2—8
1968 Richard NixonNixonHumphrey 29.6%Nixon 38.1%Wallace 32.3%R+8.5R+0.7—8
1964 Barry GoldwaterGoldwater lostJohnson 41.1%Goldwater 58.9%0.0%R+17.8D+22.6—8
1960 John F. KennedyKennedyKennedy 51.2%Nixon 48.8%0.0%D+2.5D+0.2—8

Margin is the Democrat's share minus the Republican's, in percentage points; Nation is the same for the national popular vote. "Other" is everyone else combined, or the leading third-party candidate where one took 5% or more. Vote counts from 1976. Turnout is ballots cast as a share of eligible voters, from 1980 (UF Election Lab; the newest year is preliminary).

Electoral votes

Electoral votes change after each census, when House seats are reapportioned.

  • 819601950 census
  • 81964–19681960 census
  • 81972–19801970 census
  • 81984–19881980 census
  • 81992–20001990 census
  • 82004–20082000 census
  • 92012–20202010 census
  • 92024–20282020 census
  • 92032–2040projected

Projected: South Carolina's share of House seats after the 2030 census if each state's population keeps changing at its pace since 2020, from the Census Bureau's 2024 American Community Survey population estimates (July 1, 2024). If the count were taken today it would have 9. An estimate, not a forecast.