The 1974 South Carolina United States Senate election was held on November 5, 1974 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...

 challenger Gwen Bush

Gwenyfred Bush

Gwenyfred Bush, better known as Gwen Bush, is an American politician from South Carolina, a member of the Republican Party.A former State Representative, she was a Republican nominee for a United States Senate seat in 1974 held by Ernest Hollings, a popular former Governor of South Carolina. This...

.

Primaries

Both Fritz Hollings and Gwen Bush faced no opposition in their party's primaries which allowed both candidates to concentrate solely on the general election.

General election campaign

The Watergate scandal

Watergate scandal

The Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States resulting from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement...

 caused the Republicans to perform poorly nationwide in 1974 and Gwen Bush was little more than a sacrificial lamb. The main focus of the voters in South Carolina was on the competitive gubernatorial contest

South Carolina gubernatorial election, 1974

The 1974 South Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1974 to select the governor of the state of South Carolina. James B. Edwards defeated W.J. Bryan Dorn and became the first Republican since Daniel Henry Chamberlain in 1874 to win a gubernatorial election in South Carolina...

 and Fritz Hollings easily cruised to a comfortable re-election.

General election results

| colspan=5 |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...

 hold
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See also

• List of United States Senators from South Carolina
• United States Senate elections, 1974
• United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina, 1974
  United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina, 1974
  The 1974 South Carolina United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 5, 1974 to select six Representatives for two-year terms from the state of South Carolina. The primary elections were held on July 16 and the runoff elections were held two weeks later on July 30...
  
  
• South Carolina gubernatorial election, 1974
  South Carolina gubernatorial election, 1974
  The 1974 South Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1974 to select the governor of the state of South Carolina. James B. Edwards defeated W.J. Bryan Dorn and became the first Republican since Daniel Henry Chamberlain in 1874 to win a gubernatorial election in South Carolina...