1896 United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina explained

The 1896 United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina were held on November 3, 1896, to select seven Representatives for two-year terms from the state of South Carolina. Five Democratic incumbents were re-elected, one Republican incumbent was defeated, and the open seat was retained by the Democrats. The composition of the state delegation after the election was solely Democratic.

1st congressional district

Incumbent Republican Congressman George W. Murray of the 1st congressional district, in office since 1896, was defeated by Democratic challenger William Elliott.

General election results

|-| style="color:inherit;background:#FF3333" || Reorganized Republican| George W. Murray (incumbent)| align="right" | 2,478| align="right" | 33.9| align="right" | N/A|-|-| | colspan=5 |Democratic gain from Republican|-

2nd congressional district

Incumbent Democratic Congressman W. Jasper Talbert of the 2nd congressional district, in office since 1893, defeated Republican challenger B.P. Chatfield.

General election results

|-| | colspan=5 |Democratic hold|-

3rd congressional district

Incumbent Democratic Congressman Asbury Latimer of the 3rd congressional district, in office since 1893, won the Democratic primary and defeated two Republican candidates in the general election.

Democratic primary

Democratic primary
CandidateVotes%
9,136 67.7
William T. Wideman 1,955<-- 1950-1959, Last digit missing--> 14.5
Joseph L. Keitt 1,255 9.3
J.W. Bowden 1,152 8.5

General election results

|-| style="color:inherit;background:#FF3333" || Reorganized Republican| Clarence Gray| align="right" | 192| align="right" | 1.8| align="right" | N/A|-|-| | colspan=5 |Democratic hold|-

4th congressional district

Incumbent Democratic Congressman Stanyarne Wilson of the 4th congressional district, in office since 1895, won the Democratic primary and defeated two Republican candidates in the general election.

Democratic primary

Democratic primary
CandidateVotes%
9,500 62.3
5,694 37.3
Hugh L. Farley 63 0.4

General election results

|-| style="color:inherit;background:#FF3333" || Reorganized Republican| D.T. Bounds| align="right" | 443| align="right" | 3.6| align="right" | N/A|-|-| | colspan=5 |Democratic hold|-

5th congressional district

Incumbent Democratic Congressman Thomas J. Strait of the 5th congressional district, in office since 1893, won the Democratic primary and defeated Republican John F. Jones in the general election.

Democratic primary

Democratic primary
CandidateVotes%
5,362 46.7
3,585 31.3
W.D. Trantham 2,520 22.0
Democratic primary runoff
CandidateVotes%±%
Thomas J. Strait6,29157.3+10.6
David E. Finley4,69142.7+11.4

General election results

|-| | colspan=5 |Democratic hold|-

6th congressional district

Incumbent Democratic Congressman John L. McLaurin of the 6th congressional district, in office since 1893, defeated two Republican candidates in the general election.

General election results

|-| style="color:inherit;background:#FF3333" || Reorganized Republican| George Henry McKie| align="right" | 482| align="right" | 4.3| align="right" | N/A|-|-| | colspan=5 |Democratic hold|-

7th congressional district special election

The seat for the 7th congressional district was declared vacant by the Republican controlled Congress in 1896. A special election was called to be held simultaneously with the regular election and J. William Stokes defeated two Republican candidates in the election.

General election results

|-| style="color:inherit;background:#FF3333" || Independent Republican| D.A. Perrin| align="right" | 26| align="right" | 0.3| align="right" | N/A|-|-| | colspan=5 |Democratic hold|-

7th congressional district

J. William Stokes, the winner of the previous election for the 7th congressional district, defeated Altamount Moses in the Democratic primary and two Republican candidates in the general election.

Democratic primary

Democratic primary
CandidateVotes%
3,302 53.6
Altamount Moses 2,855 46.4

General election results

|-| style="color:inherit;background:#FF3333" || Independent Republican| D.A. Perrin| align="right" | 22| align="right" | 0.2| align="right" | -0.1|-|-| | colspan=5 |Democratic hold|-

See also

References