| Election Name: | 1912 South Carolina Democratic gubernatorial primary |
| Country: | South Carolina |
| Flag Year: | 1912 |
| Type: | presidential |
| Vote Type: | Popular |
| Party Name: | Democratic Party (US) |
| Previous Election: | 1910 South Carolina gubernatorial election |
| Previous Year: | 1910 |
| Next Election: | 1914 South Carolina gubernatorial election |
| Next Year: | 1914 |
| Image1: | File:Coleman L Blease (cropped).jpg |
| Candidate1: | Cole Blease |
| Party1: | Democratic Party (US) |
| Popular Vote1: | 71,552 |
| Percentage1: | 51.0% |
| Candidate2: | Ira B. Jones |
| Party2: | Democratic Party (US) |
| Popular Vote2: | 66,478 |
| Percentage2: | 47.3% |
| Governor of South Carolina | |
| Before Election: | Cole Blease |
| Before Party: | Democrat |
| After Election: | Cole Blease |
| After Party: | Democrat |
The 1912 South Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1912, to select the governor of the state of South Carolina. Governor Coleman Livingston Blease won the Democratic primary. As South Carolina was utterly dominated by the Democratic Party, he faced no significant opposition in the general election.
Governor Coleman Livingston Blease ran for a second term, but he faced a credible challenge in the state Democratic primary against Ira B. Jones. Senator Ben Tillman felt that Blease had greatly damaged the reputation of the state and was morally unfit to be governor, but because his re-election was on the same ballot he feared to openly oppose Blease so as to cause his own political downfall. Nevertheless, Tillman published a letter at the last minute stating his opposition to Blease. It was rather ironic because Tillman was essentially aiding the very people he had opposed in his 1890 gubernatorial contest. Despite Tillman's objection, Blease won the primary election on August 27 and avoided a runoff election by obtaining more than 50 percent of the vote.
| Democratic Primary | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Coleman Livingston Blease | 71,552 | 51.0 |
| Ira B. Jones | 66,478 | 47.3 |
| John T. Duncan | 2,385 | 1.7 |
The general election was held on November 5, 1912, when Coleman Livingston Blease was officially re-elected governor of South Carolina. Turnout increased over the previous gubernatorial election because there was also a presidential election on the ballot.
|-| | colspan=5 |Democratic hold|-