1998 United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina

The 1998 United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina were held on November 3, 1998, to select six Representatives for two-year terms from the state of South Carolina. The primary elections for the Democrats and the Republicans were held on June 9 and the runoff elections were held two weeks later on June 23. All five incumbents who ran were re-elected and the open seat in the 4th congressional district was retained by the Republicans. The composition of the state delegation remained four Republicans and two Democrats.

1998 United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina

November 3, 1998 (1998-11-03)
All 6 South Carolina seats to the United States House of Representatives
Majority party Minority party   Party Republican Democratic Last election 4 2 Seats won 4 2 Seat change Popular vote 580,028 369,790 Percentage 59.61% 38.00% Swing 4.93 5.36
Republican   50–60%   >90% Democratic   50–60%   70–80% Winners   Republican Hold   Democratic Hold

1st congressional district

Incumbent Republican Congressman Mark Sanford of the 1st congressional district, in office since 1995, defeated Natural Law candidate Joseph F. Innella.

General election results

South Carolina's 1st congressional district election results, 1998

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Mark Sanford (incumbent)	118,414	91.0	−5.4
	Natural Law	Joseph F. Innella	11,586	8.9	+5.4
	No party	Write-Ins	71	0.1	0.0
Majority			106,828	82.1	−10.8
Turnout			130,071
	Republican hold

2nd congressional district

Incumbent Republican Congressman Floyd Spence of the 2nd congressional district, in office since 1971, defeated Democratic challenger Jane Frederick.

General election results

South Carolina's 2nd congressional district election results, 1998

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Floyd Spence (incumbent)	119,583	57.8	−32.0
	Democratic	Jane Frederick	84,864	41.1	+41.1
	Natural Law	Maurice T. Raiford	2,276	1.1	−8.9
	No party	Write-Ins	40	0.0	−0.2
Majority			34,719	16.7	−63.1
Turnout			206,763
	Republican hold

3rd congressional district

Incumbent Republican Congressman Lindsey Graham of the 3rd congressional district, in office since 1995, was unopposed in his bid for re-election.

General election results

South Carolina's 3rd congressional district election results, 1998

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Lindsey Graham (incumbent)	129,047	99.7	+39.4
	No party	Write-Ins	402	0.3	+0.3
Majority			128,645	99.4	+77.8
Turnout			129,449
	Republican hold

4th congressional district

Incumbent Republican Congressman Bob Inglis of the 4th congressional district, in office since 1993, chose to run for Senator instead of re-election. Jim DeMint won the Republican primary and defeated Democrat Glenn Reese in the general election.

Democratic primary

Democratic primary
Candidate	Votes	%
Glenn Reese	4,882	53.0
Bill McCuen	3,419	37.2
Launeil Neil Sanders	902	9.8

Republican primary

Republican primary
Candidate	Votes	%
Mike Fair	12,924	32.4
Jim DeMint	9,300	23.3
Howell Clyborne	8,601	21.6
Jim Ritchie	7,788	19.6
Franklin D. Raddish	1,232	3.1

Republican primary runoff
Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Jim DeMint	18,445	52.9	+29.6
Mike Fair	16,413	47.1	+14.7

General election results

South Carolina's 4th congressional district election results, 1998

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Jim DeMint	105,264	57.7	−13.2
	Democratic	Glenn Reese	73,314	40.2	+12.4
	Natural Law	C. Faye Walters	1,988	1.1	−0.2
	Reform	Peter J. Ashy*	1,754	0.9	+0.9
	No party	Write-Ins	230	0.1	+0.1
Majority			31,950	17.5	−25.6
Turnout			182,550
	Republican hold
*Ashy also ran under the Patriot Party; his totals are combined.

5th congressional district

Incumbent Democratic Congressman John M. Spratt, Jr. of the 5th congressional district, in office since 1983, defeated Republican challenger Mike Burkhold.

General election results

South Carolina's 5th congressional district election results, 1998

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John M. Spratt, Jr. (incumbent)	95,105	57.9	+3.8
	Republican	Mike Burkhold	66,299	40.3	−5.0
	Natural Law	Dianne Nevins	2,760	1.7	+1.1
	No party	Write-Ins	103	0.1	+0.1
Majority			28,806	17.6	+8.8
Turnout			164,267
	Democratic hold

6th congressional district

Incumbent Democratic Congressman Jim Clyburn of the 6th congressional district, in office since 1993, defeated Republican challenger Gary McLeod.

Democratic primary

Democratic primary
Candidate	Votes	%
Jim Clyburn	32,652	83.1
Mike Wilson	6,655	16.9

Republican primary

Republican primary
Candidate	Votes	%
Gary McLeod	4,733	63.3
Vince Ellison	2,744	36.7

General election results

South Carolina's 6th congressional district election results, 1998

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Jim Clyburn (incumbent)	116,507	72.6	+3.3
	Republican	Gary McLeod	41,421	25.8	−4.3
	Natural Law	George C. Taylor	2,496	1.5	+0.9
	No party	Write-Ins	152	0.1	+0.1
Majority			75,086	46.8	+7.6
Turnout			160,576
	Democratic hold

See also

• United States House elections, 1998
• United States Senate election in South Carolina, 1998
• South Carolina gubernatorial election, 1998
• South Carolina's congressional districts

External links

• South Carolina Election Returns