1980 United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina

The 1980 United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina were held on November 4, 1980, 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 10 and the runoff elections were held two weeks later on June 24. Three incumbents were re-elected, but John Jenrette of the 6th congressional district was defeated in his bid for re-election and the open seat in the 1st congressional district was taken by the Republicans from the Democrats. The composition of the state delegation after the elections was four Republicans and two Democrats.

1st congressional district

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Incumbent Democratic Congressman Mendel Jackson Davis of the 1st congressional district, in office since 1971, opted to retire. Tommy Hartnett, a Republican state senator from Charleston, defeated Thomas G. Moore in the Republican primary and Democrat Charles D. Ravenel in the general election.

Democratic primary

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Democratic primary
Candidate Votes %
Charles D. Ravenel 30,966 55.6
Wheeler Tillman 17,070 30.7
Charles B. Brassell 3,838 6.9
Benjamin Frazier, Jr. 3,786 6.8

Republican primary

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Republican primary
Candidate Votes %
Thomas F. Hartnett 10,510 75.4
Thomas G. Moore 3,428 24.6

General election results

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South Carolina's 1st congressional district election results, 1980
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Thomas F. Hartnett 81,988 51.6 +12.2
Democratic Charles D. Ravenel 76,963 48.4 −12.2
No party Write-Ins 10 0.0 0.0
Majority 5,025 3.2 −18.0
Turnout 158,961
Republican gain from Democratic

2nd congressional district

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

Democratic primary

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Democratic primary
Candidate Votes %
Tom Turnipseed 28,490 71.6
Leigh J. Leventis 11,303 28.4

General election results

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South Carolina's 2nd congressional district election results, 1980
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Floyd Spence (incumbent) 92,306 55.7 −1.6
Democratic Tom Turnipseed 73,353 44.3 +1.6
No party Write-Ins 19 0.0 0.0
Majority 18,953 11.4 −3.2
Turnout 165,678
Republican hold

3rd congressional district

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Incumbent Democratic Congressman Butler Derrick of the 3rd congressional district, in office since 1975, defeated Republican challenger Marshall Parker.

General election results

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South Carolina's 3rd congressional district election results, 1980
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Butler Derrick (incumbent) 87,680 59.8 −22.1
Republican Marshall Parker 57,840 39.4 +21.3
Libertarian Boyce Lee Muller 1,118 0.8 +0.8
No party Write-Ins 4 0.0 0.0
Majority 29,840 20.4 −43.4
Turnout 146,642
Democratic hold

4th congressional district

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Incumbent Republican Congressman Carroll A. Campbell, Jr. of the 4th congressional district, in office since 1979, defeated Libertarian challenger Thomas P. Waldenfels.

General election results

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South Carolina's 4th congressional district election results, 1980
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Carroll Campbell (incumbent) 90,941 92.6 +40.5
Libertarian Thomas P. Waldenfels 6,984 7.1 +7.1
No party Write-Ins 248 0.3 +0.3
Majority 83,957 85.5 +79.6
Turnout 98,173
Republican hold

5th congressional district

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Incumbent Democratic Congressman Kenneth Lamar Holland of the 5th congressional district, in office since 1975, defeated Libertarian challenger Thomas Campbell.

General election results

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South Carolina's 5th congressional district election results, 1980
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Ken Holland (incumbent) 99,773 87.5 +4.9
Libertarian Thomas Campbell 14,252 12.5 +12.5
No party Write-Ins 13 0.0 −0.2
Majority 85,521 75.0 −9.6
Turnout 114,038
Democratic hold

6th congressional district

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Incumbent Democratic Congressman John Jenrette of the 6th congressional district, in office since 1975, was defeated in his bid for re-election by Republican John Light Napier.

Democratic primary

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Democratic primary
Candidate Votes %
John Jenrette 38,565 45.3
Hicks Harwell 22,251 26.2
John W. Brassington 11,346 13.3
Erick B. Ficken 8,061 9.5
William T. McElveen, Sr. 4,887 5.7
Democratic primary runoff
Candidate Votes % ±%
John Jenrette 42,759 52.5 +7.3
Hicks Harwell 38,621 47.5 +21.3

Republican primary

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Republican primary
Candidate Votes %
John Light Napier 3,735 60.0
Edward Lunn Young 2,491 40.0

General election results

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South Carolina's 6th congressional district election results, 1980
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican John Light Napier 75,635 51.7 +51.7
Democratic John Jenrette (incumbent) 70,445 48.2 −51.5
No party Write-Ins 86 0.1 −0.2
Majority 5,190 3.5 −95.9
Turnout 146,166
Republican gain from Democratic

See also

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