The 1938 United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina were held on November 8, 1938, to select six Representatives for two-year terms from the state of South Carolina. The primary elections were held on August 30 and the runoff elections were held two weeks later on September 13. Three incumbents were re-elected, but two incumbents were defeated in the Democratic primary. The three open seats were retained by the Democrats and the composition of the state delegation thus remained solely Democratic.
Incumbent Democratic Congressman Thomas S. McMillan of the 1st congressional district, in office since 1925, defeated A. Russell McGowan in the Democratic primary and Republican B.L. Hendrix in the general election.
| Democratic primary | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| 29,173 | 62.8 | |
| A. Russell McGowan | 17,255 | 37.2 |
|-| | colspan=5 |Democratic hold|-
Incumbent Democratic Congressman Hampton P. Fulmer of the 2nd congressional district, in office since 1921, defeated former Lieutenant Governor Andrew J. Bethea in the Democratic primary and Republican S.J. Leaphart in the general election.
| Democratic primary | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| 42,058 | 71.4 | |
| 16,868 | 28.6 | |
|-| | colspan=5 |Democratic hold|-
Incumbent Democratic Congressman John C. Taylor of the 3rd congressional district, in office since 1933, was defeated in the Democratic primary by Butler B. Hare who defeated Republican O.B. Menees in the general election.
| Democratic primary | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| 22,164 | 40.6 | |
| 18,556 | 34.0 | |
| Theo H. Vaughn | 10,407 | 19.1 |
| Robert E. McCaslan | 3,445 | 6.3 |
| Democratic primary runoff | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| Butler B. Hare | 29,852 | 55.7 | +21.7 |
| John C. Taylor | 23,732 | 44.3 | +3.7 |
|-| | colspan=5 |Democratic hold|-
Incumbent Democratic Congressman Gabriel H. Mahon, Jr. of the 4th congressional district, in office since 1937, was defeated in the Democratic primary by Joseph R. Bryson who defeated Republican H.A. Costner in the general election. The first primary had the two candidates only separated by 8 votes so the South Carolina Democratic Party Executive Committee ordered a new race instead of a recount, which Bryson clearly won.
| 1st Democratic primary | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| 31,634 | 50.0 | |
| 31,626 | 50.0 | |
| 2nd Democratic primary | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| 35,948 | 54.5 | |
| 29,967 | 45.5 | |
|-| | colspan=5 |Democratic hold|-
Incumbent Democratic Congressman James P. Richards of the 5th congressional district, in office since 1933, defeated Republican challenger A.B. McCraw.
|-| | colspan=5 |Democratic hold|-
Incumbent Democratic Congresswoman Elizabeth Hawley Gasque of the 6th congressional district succeeded her husband, Allard H. Gasque, in office upon his death in 1938 and she did not seek re-election. John L. McMillan won the Democratic primary and defeated Republican W.S. Thompson in the general election.
| Democratic primary | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Lloyd Ford | 19,581 | 35.3 |
| 15,578 | 28.1 | |
| James R. Turner | 7,183 | 12.9 |
| Jerome P. Pate | 5,771 | 10.4 |
| Earl Ellerbe | 4,809 | 8.7 |
| D.F. Hogan | 2,558 | 4.6 |
| Democratic primary runoff | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| John L. McMillan | 27,083 | 51.9 | +23.8 |
| Lloyd Ford | 25,068 | 48.1 | +12.8 |
|-| | colspan=5 |Democratic hold|-