See main article: 1896 United States presidential election.
| Election Name: | 1896 United States presidential election in South Carolina |
| Country: | South Carolina |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1892 United States presidential election in South Carolina |
| Previous Year: | 1892 |
| Next Election: | 1900 United States presidential election in South Carolina |
| Next Year: | 1900 |
| Election Date: | November 3, 1896 |
| Image1: | William Jennings Bryan 2 (cropped).jpg |
| Nominee1: | William Jennings Bryan |
| Party1: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Home State1: | Nebraska |
| Running Mate1: | Arthur Sewall |
| Electoral Vote1: | 9 |
| Popular Vote1: | 58,801 |
| Percentage1: | 85.30% |
| Nominee2: | William McKinley |
| Party2: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Home State2: | Ohio |
| Running Mate2: | Garret Hobart |
| Electoral Vote2: | 0 |
| Popular Vote2: | 9,313 |
| Percentage2: | 13.51% |
| Map Size: | 325px |
| President | |
| Before Election: | Grover Cleveland |
| Before Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| After Election: | William McKinley |
| After Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
The 1896 United States presidential election in South Carolina took place on November 3, 1896, as part of the 1896 United States presidential election. Voters chose nine representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
South Carolina overwhelmingly voted for the Democratic nominee, former U.S. Representative from Nebraska William Jennings Bryan, over the Republican nominee, former governor of Ohio William McKinley. Bryan won the state by a landslide margin of 71.79%. However, McKinley's performance would actually prove to be a high water mark for Republicans going into the 20th century; he was the last Republican to win even 10% of the state's vote until Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952.
With 85.3% of the popular vote, South Carolina would prove to be Bryan's second strongest state in the 1896 presidential election only after Mississippi.[1]
Bryan would later defeat McKinley in South Carolina again four years later and would win the state again in 1908 against William Howard Taft.
| County | William Jennings Bryan Democratic | William McKinley Republican | John McAuley Palmer National Democratic | Margin | Total votes cast[2] | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| data-sort-type="number" | data-sort-type="number" | % | data-sort-type="number" | data-sort-type="number" | % | data-sort-type="number" | data-sort-type="number" | % | data-sort-type="number" | data-sort-type="number" | % | ||||||||
| Abbeville | 2,473 | 87.98% | 337 | 11.99% | 1 | 0.04% | 2,136 | 75.99% | 2,811 | ||||||||||
| Aiken | 1,819 | 92.48% | 137 | 6.96% | 11 | 0.56% | 1,682 | 85.51% | 1,967 | ||||||||||
| Anderson | 3,109 | 88.98% | 368 | 10.53% | 17 | 0.49% | 2,741 | 78.45% | 3,494 | ||||||||||
| Barnwell | 2,385 | 90.79% | 239 | 9.10% | 3 | 0.11% | 2,146 | 81.69% | 2,627 | ||||||||||
| Beaufort | 289 | 39.43% | 444 | 60.57% | 0 | 0.00% | -155 | -21.15% | 733 | ||||||||||
| Berkeley | 513 | 72.77% | 183 | 25.96% | 9 | 1.28% | 330 | 46.81% | 705 | ||||||||||
| Charleston | 1,660 | 47.82% | 1,262 | 36.36% | 549 | 15.82% | 398 | 11.47% | 3,471 | ||||||||||
| Chester | 1,254 | 93.58% | 76 | 5.67% | 10 | 0.75% | 1,178 | 87.91% | 1,340 | ||||||||||
| Chesterfield | 1,465 | 86.94% | 220 | 13.06% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,245 | 73.89% | 1,685 | ||||||||||
| Clarendon | 1,450 | 87.51% | 207 | 12.49% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,243 | 75.02% | 1,657 | ||||||||||
| Colleton | 1,646 | 82.51% | 343 | 17.19% | 6 | 0.30% | 1,303 | 65.31% | 1,995 | ||||||||||
| Darlington | 1,625 | 87.98% | 201 | 10.88% | 21 | 1.14% | 1,424 | 77.10% | 1,847 | ||||||||||
| Edgefield | 1,532 | 87.29% | 216 | 12.31% | 7 | 0.40% | 1,316 | 74.99% | 1,755 | ||||||||||
| Fairfield | 1,078 | 95.23% | 54 | 4.77% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,024 | 90.46% | 1,132 | ||||||||||
| Florence | 1,530 | 89.95% | 136 | 8.00% | 35 | 2.06% | 1,394 | 81.95% | 1,701 | ||||||||||
| Georgetown | 459 | 37.35% | 734 | 59.72% | 36 | 2.93% | -275 | -22.38% | 1,229 | ||||||||||
| Greenville | 2,718 | 89.38% | 288 | 9.47% | 35 | 1.15% | 2,430 | 79.91% | 3,041 | ||||||||||
| Hampton | 1,072 | 97.72% | 25 | 2.28% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,047 | 95.44% | 1,097 | ||||||||||
| Horry | 1,372 | 87.50% | 196 | 12.50% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,176 | 75.00% | 1,568 | ||||||||||
| Kershaw | 1,191 | 89.41% | 139 | 10.44% | 2 | 0.15% | 1,052 | 78.98% | 1,332 | ||||||||||
| Lancaster | 1,557 | 89.79% | 177 | 10.21% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,380 | 79.58% | 1,734 | ||||||||||
| Laurens | 1,943 | 94.60% | 111 | 5.40% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,832 | 89.19% | 2,054 | ||||||||||
| Lexington | 1,672 | 89.46% | 197 | 10.54% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,475 | 78.92% | 1,869 | ||||||||||
| Marion | 1,936 | 85.66% | 313 | 13.85% | 11 | 0.49% | 1,623 | 71.81% | 2,260 | ||||||||||
| Marlboro | 1,232 | 83.70% | 237 | 16.10% | 3 | 0.20% | 995 | 67.60% | 1,472 | ||||||||||
| Newberry | 1,525 | 95.43% | 64 | 4.01% | 9 | 0.56% | 1,461 | 91.43% | 1,598 | ||||||||||
| Oconee | 1,392 | 87.49% | 199 | 12.51% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,193 | 74.98% | 1,591 | ||||||||||
| Orangeburg | 2,729 | 90.63% | 282 | 9.37% | 0 | 0.00% | 2,447 | 81.27% | 3,011 | ||||||||||
| Pickens | 1,261 | 88.12% | 170 | 11.88% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,091 | 76.24% | 1,431 | ||||||||||
| Richland | 925 | 65.05% | 468 | 32.91% | 29 | 2.04% | 457 | 32.14% | 1,422 | ||||||||||
| Saluda | 1,241 | 95.39% | 60 | 4.61% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,181 | 90.78% | 1,301 | ||||||||||
| Spartanburg | 4,234 | 94.49% | 247 | 5.51% | 0 | 0.00% | 3,987 | 88.98% | 4,481 | ||||||||||
| Sumter | 1,550 | 81.58% | 326 | 17.16% | 24 | 1.26% | 1,224 | 64.42% | 1,900 | ||||||||||
| Union | 1,379 | 89.60% | 158 | 10.27% | 2 | 0.13% | 1,221 | 79.34% | 1,539 | ||||||||||
| Williamsburg | 1,570 | 81.73% | 347 | 18.06% | 4 | 0.21% | 1,223 | 63.66% | 1,921 | ||||||||||
| York | 2,013 | 92.81% | 152 | 7.01% | 4 | 0.18% | 1,861 | 85.80% | 2,169 | ||||||||||
| Totals | 58,799 | 87.70% | 9,313 | 13.51% | 824 | 1.23% | 49,486 | 71.78% | 68,940 | ||||||||||