United States Senate election in South Carolina, 2008
Encyclopedia
The 2008 United States Senate election in South Carolina was held on November 4, 2008. Incumbent Republican
U.S. Senator
Lindsey Graham
won re-election to a second term.
.
Michael Cone, Conley's primary opponent, criticized Conley for being too conservative, that "We've nominated a Republican in a Democratic primary." Conley was a Republican but left the party due to frustration over immigration, trade, and the Iraq War. Some have compared him to Republican Congressman Ron Paul, as Conley supported Republican Congressman
Ron Paul
in his presidential campaign
.. Conley is considered to be a conservative Democrat
.
on June 16, following a recount, by a margin of 1,058 votes.
's presidential bid. A number of prominent Democratic figures in the state, including U.S. Congressman James Clyburn, supported Lindsey Graham over Conley in the general election. Political scientist Bill Moore
claimed “The bottom line is, by not paying attention to this race, they ended up embarrassed by what has transpired: a Republican getting the Democratic Party’s nomination for U.S. Senate and a Republican who comes across as even more conservative than Lindsey Graham.“
Graham had $3.8 million. In fact, he’s spent more time on the campaign trail for John McCain
than he has defending his own seat. Conley only raised $23,628 during the campaign. Conley was so unknown that even Graham admitted “Almost no one knows my opponent. The Democrats really didn’t field a — make a serious challenge — in terms of trying to find an opponent for me.“
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...
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...
Lindsey Graham
Lindsey Graham
Lindsey Olin Graham is the senior U.S. Senator from South Carolina and a member of the Republican Party. Previously he served as the U.S. Representative for .-Early life, education and career:...
won re-election to a second term.
Campaign
"Conley stands for ending illegal immigration, protecting American workers, bringing our troops home from Iraq, increasing veterans' benefits, reducing our dependence on foreign oil, ending Wall Street bailouts, repealing the Patriot Act, cutting spending, and fidelity to the Constitution." He is opposed to same-sex marriageSame-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
.
Michael Cone, Conley's primary opponent, criticized Conley for being too conservative, that "We've nominated a Republican in a Democratic primary." Conley was a Republican but left the party due to frustration over immigration, trade, and the Iraq War. Some have compared him to Republican Congressman Ron Paul, as Conley supported Republican Congressman
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
Ron Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
in his presidential campaign
Ron Paul presidential campaign, 2008
Ron Paul was a Republican Party primary candidate in the 2008 United States presidential election.Initial opinion polls during the first three quarters of 2007 showed Ron Paul consistently receiving support from 3% or less of those polled...
.. Conley is considered to be a conservative Democrat
Conservative Democrat
In American politics, a conservative Democrat is a Democratic Party member with conservative political views, or with views relatively conservative with respect to those of the national party...
.
Results
Conley defeated Cone in the primary electionPrimary 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....
on June 16, following a recount, by a margin of 1,058 votes.
Candidates
- Lindsey GrahamLindsey GrahamLindsey Olin Graham is the senior U.S. Senator from South Carolina and a member of the Republican Party. Previously he served as the U.S. Representative for .-Early life, education and career:...
, incumbent U.S. Senator - Buddy Witherspoon, former National Committeeman of the South Carolina Republican PartySouth Carolina Republican PartyThe South Carolina Republican Party and the South Carolina Democratic Party are the two major political parties within the U.S. state of South Carolina...
Polling
| Source | Date | Graham | Witherspoon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public Policy Polling | January 17, 2008 | 52% | 5% |
Results
Campaign
Conley, who had switched to the Democratic Party from the Republican Party, was opposed by much of the Democratic establishment because of his controversial positions such as his vocal opposition to the immigration reform and same-sex marriage and his support of Ron PaulRon Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
's presidential bid. A number of prominent Democratic figures in the state, including U.S. Congressman James Clyburn, supported Lindsey Graham over Conley in the general election. Political scientist Bill Moore
Bill Moore
William Leonard Moore is an author and former UFO researcher. Prominent from the late 1970s to the late 1980s, he co-authored two books with Charles Berlitz, including The Roswell Incident - the first book written about the alleged Roswell UFO crash/retrieval...
claimed “The bottom line is, by not paying attention to this race, they ended up embarrassed by what has transpired: a Republican getting the Democratic Party’s nomination for U.S. Senate and a Republican who comes across as even more conservative than Lindsey Graham.“
Graham had $3.8 million. In fact, he’s spent more time on the campaign trail for John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
than he has defending his own seat. Conley only raised $23,628 during the campaign. Conley was so unknown that even Graham admitted “Almost no one knows my opponent. The Democrats really didn’t field a — make a serious challenge — in terms of trying to find an opponent for me.“
Polling
| Poll Source | Dates administered | Conley | Graham |
|---|---|---|---|
| Survey USA | October 28 - October 29, 2008 | 39% | 58% |
| Survey USA | October 12 - October 13, 2008 | 40% | 56% |
| Survey USA | September 21 - September 22, 2008 | 40% | 54% |
| Rasmussen Reports | September 18, 2008 | 41% | 50% |
| Public Policy Polling | July 9-11, 2008 | 32% | 54% |
Results
See also
- United States Senate elections, 2008United States Senate elections, 2008Elections for the United States Senate were held on November 4, 2008, with 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate being contested. Thirty-three seats were regular elections; the winners were eligible to serve six-year terms from January 3, 2009, to January 3, 2015, as members of Senate Class II...
- United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina, 2008United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina, 2008The 2008 South Carolina House of Representatives elections were held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. The primary elections were held on June 10 and the runoff elections were held two weeks later on June 24...
External links
- South Carolina State Election Commission
- U.S. Congress candidates for South Carolina at Project Vote SmartProject Vote SmartProject Vote Smart is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States...
- South Carolina, U.S. Senate from CQ PoliticsCongressional QuarterlyCongressional Quarterly, Inc., or CQ, is a privately owned publishing company that produces a number of publications reporting primarily on the United States Congress...
- South Carolina U.S. Senate from OurCampaigns.com
- Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets.orgCenter for Responsive PoliticsThe Center for Responsive Politics is a non-profit, nonpartisan research group based in Washington, D.C. that tracks money in politics and the effect of money and lobbying activity on elections and public policy and maintains a public online database of its information.Their database...
- Graham (R-i) vs Conley (D) graph of multiple polls from Pollster.com
- Official campaign websites