| State: | South Carolina |
| District Number: | 6 |
| Image Caption: | Interactive map of district boundaries since January 3, 2023 |
| Representative: | Jim Clyburn |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Residence: | Columbia |
| Population: | 755,258 |
| Population Year: | 2023 |
| Median Income: | $55,985[1] |
| Percent White: | 41.6 |
| Percent Hispanic: | 6.2 |
| Percent Black: | 46.8 |
| Percent Asian: | 1.5 |
| Percent More Than One Race: | 3.0 |
| Percent Other Race: | 0.8 |
| Cpvi: | D+14[2] |
South Carolina's 6th congressional district is in central and eastern South Carolina. It includes all of Allendale, Bamberg, Calhoun, Clarendon, Hampton, and Williamsburg counties and parts of Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester, Florence, Jasper, Orangeburg, Richland and Sumter counties. With a Cook Partisan Voting Index rating of D+14, it is the only Democratic district in South Carolina.[2]
The district's current configuration dates from a deal struck in the early 1990s between state Republicans and Democrats in the South Carolina General Assembly to create a majority-black district. The rural counties of the historical black belt in South Carolina make up much of the district, but it sweeps south to include most of the majority-black precincts in and around Charleston, and sweeps west to include most of the majority-black precincts in and around Columbia. It also includes most of the majority black areas near Beaufort (though not Beaufort itself).
From 1993 to 2013, the district stretched from the Pee Dee to the Atlantic Coast. The district borders were shifted south in the 2012 redistricting. It lost its share of the Pee Dee while picking up almost all of the majority-black precincts in the Lowcountry. It now takes in part of the area near the South Carolina-Georgia border, reaching just far enough to the north to grab its share of Columbia itself. In all of its configurations, its politics have been dominated by black voters in the Columbia and Charleston areas.
Following the Reconstruction era, the white Democratic-dominated legislature passed Jim Crow laws, as well as a new constitution in 1895 that effectively disfranchised blacks, crippling the Republican Party in the state. For most of the next 60 years, South Carolina was essentially a one-party state dominated by the Democrats, and blacks were nearly excluded from the political system.
Demographic and political changes have included the Great Migration of blacks out of the state during the Jim Crow era in the first half of the 20th century. At the same time, many white Democrats felt chagrin at the national party's greater support of civil rights for blacks from the 1940s onward, and began splitting their tickets in federal elections. After successes of the Civil Rights Movement in gaining passage of federal legislation in the mid-1960s to enforce their constitutional rights and ability to vote, blacks in South Carolina supported national Democratic candidates. Even before then, white conservatives had begun splitting their tickets and voting for Republicans at the federal level as early as the 1950s, and gradually began moving into the Republican Party in the 1980s.
Since the late 20th century, South Carolina politics have been very racially polarized. Republicans in South Carolina have been mostly white, and most African Americans in the state continue to support the Democrats. In the 21st century, the 6th is considered the only "safe" Democratic district in the state.
From 1883 to 1993, this district included the northeastern part of the state, from Darlington to Myrtle Beach. In this configuration, it was a classic "Yellow Dog" Democratic district; from the end of Reconstruction until 1983, it only elected two Republicans, both for a single term. In 2012, the new 7th congressional district was created; it includes much of the territory that was in the 6th for most of the 20th century.
Jim Clyburn, a Democrat and the Majority Whip from 2019 to 2023, has represented this district since first being elected in 1992.
Counties in the 2023–2033 district map:
| Year | Office | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | President | Gore 63–36% | |
| 2004 | President | Kerry 61–39% | |
| 2008 | President | Obama 70–29% | |
| 2012 | President | Obama 71–28% | |
| 2016 | President | Clinton 67–30% | |
| 2020 | President | Biden 67–31% |
| Member | Party | Years | Cong ress | Electoral history | District location | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District established March 4, 1793 | ||||||||
| align=left | Andrew Pickens | Anti-Administration | nowrap | March 4, 1793 – March 3, 1795 | Elected in 1793. Retired. | 1793–1797 "Pinckney and Washington district" | ||
| align=left | Samuel Earle | Democratic-Republican | nowrap | March 4, 1795 – March 3, 1797 | Elected in 1794. Retired. | |||
| align=left | William Smith | Democratic-Republican | nowrap | March 4, 1797 – March 3, 1799 | Elected in 1796. Lost re-election. | 1797–1803 "Washington district" | ||
| align=left | Abraham Nott | Federalist | nowrap | March 4, 1799 – March 3, 1801 | Elected in 1798. Retired. | |||
| align=left | Thomas Moore | Democratic-Republican | nowrap | March 4, 1801 – March 3, 1803 | Elected in 1800. Redistricted to the . | |||
| align=left | Levi Casey | Democratic-Republican | nowrap | March 4, 1803 – February 3, 1807 | Elected in 1803. Re-elected in 1804. Re-elected in 1806. Died. | 1803–1813 "Abbeville district" | ||
| Vacant | nowrap | February 3, 1807 – June 2, 1807 | ||||||
| align=left | Joseph Calhoun | Democratic-Republican | nowrap | June 2, 1807 – March 3, 1811 | Elected to finish Casey's term. Re-elected in 1808. Retired. | |||
John C. Calhoun | Democratic-Republican | March 4, 1811 – November 3, 1817 | Elected in 1810. Re-elected in 1812. Re-elected in 1814. Re-elected in 1816. Resigned to become U.S. secretary of war. | |||||
| 1813–1823 "Abbeville district" | ||||||||
| Vacant | nowrap | November 3, 1817 – January 24, 1818 | ||||||
| align=left | Eldred Simkins | Democratic-Republican | nowrap | January 24, 1818 – March 3, 1821 | Elected to finish Calhoun's term. Re-elected in 1818. Retired. | |||
| align=left | George McDuffie | Democratic-Republican | nowrap | March 4, 1821 – March 3, 1823 | Elected in 1820. Redistricted to the . | |||
| John Wilson | Democratic-Republican | nowrap | March 4, 1823 – March 3, 1825 | Redistricted from the and re-elected in 1823. Re-elected in 1824. Lost re-election. | 1823–1833 "Pendleton district" | |||
| Jacksonian | nowrap | March 4, 1825 – March 3, 1827 | ||||||
| Warren R. Davis | Jacksonian | nowrap | March 4, 1827 – March 3, 1831 | Elected in 1826. Re-elected in 1828. Re-elected in 1830. Re-elected in 1833. Re-elected in 1834 but died before next term began. | ||||
| Nullifier | March 4, 1831 – January 29, 1835 | |||||||
| 1833–1843 | ||||||||
| Vacant | nowrap | January 29, 1835 – September 10, 1835 | ||||||
Waddy Thompson Jr. | Anti-Jackson | nowrap | September 10, 1835 – March 3, 1837 | Elected to finish Davis's term. Re-elected in 1836. Re-elected in 1838. Retired. | ||||
| Whig | nowrap | March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1841 | ||||||
| align=left | William Butler | Whig | nowrap | March 4, 1841 – March 3, 1843 | Elected in 1840. Redistricted to the and lost re-election. | |||
| align=left | Isaac E. Holmes | Democratic | nowrap | March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1851 | Redistricted from the and re-elected in 1843. Re-elected in 1844. Re-elected in 1846. Re-elected in 1848. Lost re-election. | 1843–1853 | ||
| align=left | William Aiken Jr. | Democratic | nowrap | March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1853 | Elected in 1850. Redistricted to the . | |||
| align=left | William W. Boyce | Democratic | nowrap | March 4, 1853 – December 21, 1860 | Elected in 1853. Re-elected in 1854. Re-elected in 1856. Re-elected in 1858. Re-elected in 1860 but retired due to Civil War. | 1853–1860 | ||
| District inactive | nowrap | December 21, 1860 – March 3, 1867 | Civil War and Reconstruction | |||||
| District dissolved March 3, 1867 | ||||||||
| District re-established March 4, 1883 | ||||||||
| align=left | George W. Dargan | Democratic | nowrap | March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1891 | Elected in 1882. Re-elected in 1884. Re-elected in 1886. Re-elected in 1888. Retired. | 1883–1893 | ||
| align=left | Eli T. Stackhouse | Democratic | nowrap | March 4, 1891 – June 14, 1892 | Elected in 1890. Died. | |||
| Vacant | nowrap | June 14, 1892 – December 5, 1892 | ||||||
John L. McLaurin | Democratic | December 5, 1892 – May 31, 1897 | Elected to finish Stackhouse's term. Also elected to the next full term. Re-elected in 1894. Re-elected in 1896. Resigned when appointed U.S. Senator. | |||||
| 1893–1903 | ||||||||
| Vacant | nowrap | May 31, 1897 – December 6, 1897 | ||||||
| align=left | James Norton | Democratic | nowrap | December 6, 1897 – March 3, 1901 | Elected to finish McLaurin's term. Re-elected in 1898. Retired. | |||
Robert B. Scarborough | Democratic | March 4, 1901 – March 3, 1905 | Elected in 1900. Re-elected in 1902. Retired. | |||||
| 1903–1913 | ||||||||
| align=left | J. Edwin Ellerbe | Democratic | nowrap | March 4, 1905 – March 3, 1913 | Elected in 1904. Re-elected in 1906. Re-elected in 1908. Re-elected in 1910. Lost renomination. | |||
| align=left | J. Willard Ragsdale | Democratic | nowrap | March 4, 1913 – July 23, 1919 | Elected in 1912. Re-elected in 1914. Re-elected in 1916. Re-elected in 1918. Died. | 1913–1923 | ||
| Vacant | nowrap | July 23, 1919 – October 7, 1919 | ||||||
| align=left | Philip H. Stoll | Democratic | nowrap | October 7, 1919 – March 3, 1923 | Elected to finish Ragsdale's term. Re-elected in 1920. Lost renomination. | |||
Allard H. Gasque | Democratic | March 4, 1923 – June 17, 1938 | Elected in 1922. Re-elected in 1924. Re-elected in 1926. Re-elected in 1928. Re-elected in 1930. Re-elected in 1932. Re-elected in 1934. Re-elected in 1936. Died. | 1923–1933 | ||||
| 1933–1943 | ||||||||
| Vacant | nowrap | June 17, 1938 – September 13, 1938 | ||||||
| align=left | Elizabeth H. Gasque | Democratic | nowrap | September 13, 1938 – January 3, 1939 | Elected to finish her husband's term. Retired. | |||
John L. McMillan | Democratic | January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1973 | Elected in 1938. Re-elected in 1940. Re-elected in 1942. Re-elected in 1944. Re-elected in 1946. Re-elected in 1948. Re-elected in 1950. Re-elected in 1952. Re-elected in 1954. Re-elected in 1956. Re-elected in 1958. Re-elected in 1960. Re-elected in 1962. Re-elected in 1964. Re-elected in 1966. Re-elected in 1968. Re-elected in 1970. Lost renomination. | |||||
| 1943–1953 | ||||||||
| 1953–1963 | ||||||||
| 1963–1973 | ||||||||
| align=left | Edward Lunn Young | Republican | nowrap | January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1975 | Elected in 1972. Lost re-election. | 1973–1983 | ||
| align=left | John Jenrette | Democratic | nowrap | January 3, 1975 – December 10, 1980 | Elected in 1974. Re-elected in 1976. Re-elected in 1978. Lost re-election and resigned early as a result of the ABSCAM scandal. | |||
| align=left | John L. Napier | Republican | nowrap | January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1983 | Elected in 1980. Lost re-election. | |||
| align=left | Robin Tallon | Democratic | nowrap | January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1993 | Elected in 1982. Re-elected in 1984. Re-elected in 1986. Re-elected in 1988. Re-elected in 1990. Retired following redistricting. | 1983–1993 | ||
Jim Clyburn | Democratic | January 3, 1993 – present | Elected in 1992. Re-elected in 1994. Re-elected in 1996. Re-elected in 1998. Re-elected in 2000. Re-elected in 2002. Re-elected in 2004. Re-elected in 2006. Re-elected in 2008. Re-elected in 2010. Re-elected in 2012. Re-elected in 2014. Re-elected in 2016. Re-elected in 2018. Re-elected in 2020. Re-elected in 2022. Re-elected in 2024. | 1993–2003 | ||||
| 2003–2013 | ||||||||
| 2013–2023 | ||||||||
| 2023–2033 | ||||||||