1896 United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina

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

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	William Elliott	4,652	63.7	+4.6
	Reorganized Republican	George W. Murray (incumbent)	2,478	33.9	N/A
	Republican	W. Cecil Cohen	173	2.4	N/A
	No party	Write-Ins	2	0.0	0.0
Majority			2,174	29.8	+11.6
Turnout			7,305
	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

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	W. Jasper Talbert (incumbent)	7,999	92.4	−7.1
	Republican	B.P. Chatfield	635	7.3	+7.3
	No party	Write-Ins	21	0.3	−0.2
Majority			7,364	85.1	−13.9
Turnout			8,655
	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 primary
Candidate	Votes	%
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

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Asbury Latimer (incumbent)	9,746	92.0	+10.7
	Republican	A.C. Merreck	659	6.2	N/A
	Reorganized Republican	Clarence Gray	192	1.8	N/A
Majority			9,087	85.8	+18.4
Turnout			10,597
	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 primary
Candidate	Votes	%
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

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Stanyarne Wilson (incumbent)	11,230	92.2	+17.1
	Republican	P.S. Suber	507	4.2	N/A
	Reorganized Republican	D.T. Bounds	443	3.6	N/A
	No party	Write-Ins	1	0.0	−0.2
Majority			10,723	88.0	+37.6
Turnout			12,181
	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 primary
Candidate	Votes	%
Thomas J. Strait	5,362	46.7
David E. Finley	3,585	31.3
W.D. Trantham	2,520	22.0

Democratic primary runoff
Candidate	Votes	%	±%
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

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Thomas J. Strait (incumbent)	8,511	91.0	+23.4
	Republican	John F. Jones	838	9.0	−8.0
Majority			7,673	82.0	+31.4
Turnout			9,349
	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

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John L. McLaurin (incumbent)	9,725	87.7	+10.8
	Republican	J.E. Wilson	878	7.9	N/A
	Reorganized Republican	George Henry McKie	482	4.3	N/A
	No party	Write-Ins	9	0.1	+0.1
Majority			8,847	79.8	+26.0
Turnout			11,094
	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

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	J. William Stokes	8,223	88.2	+15.2
	Republican	T.B. Johnson	1,068	11.5	N/A
	Independent Republican	D.A. Perrin	26	0.3	N/A
	No party	Write-Ins	1	0.0	−0.7
Majority			7,155	76.7	+30.0
Turnout			9,318
	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 primary
Candidate	Votes	%
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

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	J. William Stokes	8,065	85.6	−2.6
	Republican	T.B. Johnson	1,342	14.2	+2.7
	Independent Republican	D.A. Perrin	22	0.2	-0.1
Majority			6,723	71.4	−5.3
Turnout			9,429
	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. pp. 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.