United States Senate election in South Carolina, 1968

The 1968 South Carolina United States Senate election was held on November 5, 1968 to select the U.S. Senator

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

from the state of South Carolina

South Carolina

South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

. Incumbent Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

Senator Fritz Hollings

Ernest Hollings

Ernest Frederick "Fritz" Hollings served as a Democratic United States Senator from South Carolina from 1966 to 2005, as well as the 106th Governor of South Carolina and Lt. Governor . He served 38 years and 55 days in the Senate, which makes him the 8th-longest-serving Senator in history...

easily defeated Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

state senator

South Carolina Senate

The South Carolina Senate is the upper house of the South Carolina General Assembly, the lower house being the South Carolina House of Representatives...

Marshall Parker

Marshall Joyner Parker was an American Republican politician from South Carolina. Born in Seaboard, North Carolina, he graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill . In his first year of college, Mr. Parker was awarded with the Freshmen Athlete of the Year Award. Later, he...

in a rematch of the election two years earlier.

Democratic Primary

Fritz Hollings

Ernest Hollings

, the incumbent Senator

United States Senate

, faced no opposition from South Carolina Democrats

South Carolina Democratic Party

The South Carolina Democratic Party is the South Carolina affiliate of the United States Democratic Party. The Democratic party thrived during the Second Party System between 1832 and the mid-1850s and was one of the causes of the collapse of the Whig Party....

and avoided a primary election

Primary election

A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....

Republican Primary

Marshall Parker

, the state senator from Oconee County in the Upstate

The Upstate

The Upstate is the region in northwestern South Carolina, United States, also known as The Upcountry, which is the historical term. Although loosely defined among locals, the general definition includes the 10 counties of the commerce-rich I-85 corridor in the northwest corner of South Carolina. ...

, was persuaded by South Carolina Republicans

South Carolina Republican Party

The South Carolina Republican Party and the South Carolina Democratic Party are the two major political parties within the U.S. state of South Carolina...

to enter the race and he did not face a primary

Primary election

challenge.

General election campaign

After a close election loss to Fritz Hollings

Ernest Hollings

in 1966, the Republicans felt that Parker might have a chance at defeating Hollings by riding Nixon's

Richard Nixon

Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...

coattails in the general election. However, the Republicans did not provide Parker with the financial resources to compete and he subsequently lost by a bigger margin to Hollings than two years prior.

Election results

| colspan=5 |Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

hold
|-

Democratic Primary

Republican Primary

General election campaign

Election results

See also