2014 United States Senate special election in South Carolina

For the other Senate election in South Carolina held in parallel, see 2014 United States Senate election in South Carolina.

The 2014 United States Senate special election in South Carolina took place on November 4, 2014, concurrently with the regular election for the other South Carolina Senate seat. The special-election Senate seat was formerly held by Republican Jim DeMint, who resigned on January 2, 2013, to become president of the Heritage Foundation.

2014 United States Senate special election in South Carolina

← 2010 November 4, 2014 2016 →

Nominee Tim Scott Joyce Dickerson Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 757,215 459,583 Percentage 61.12% 37.09%

County results Scott:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Dickerson:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

U.S. senator before election Tim Scott[a] Republican Elected U.S. Senator Tim Scott Republican

Nikki Haley, the Republican governor of South Carolina, announced the appointment of U.S. Representative Tim Scott to fill the seat. Scott ran in the special election and won by beating Democratic candidate and Richland County councilwoman Joyce Dickerson in the November election. Scott became the first black senator in the state's history and the first in a former Confederate state since 1881.

The election was noted for being the second U.S. Senate election since the passage of the Seventeenth Amendment, and the first in a former Confederate state in which both major party nominees were black.^[b] This was also the first of three consecutive elections to this seat in which both major party nominees were black.

Background

On December 6, 2012, Senator Jim DeMint announced his intention to resign effective January 1, 2013, to become the president of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.^[1]

Nikki Haley, the governor of South Carolina, appointed a replacement to fill the seat until the special election.^[2] Haley indicated that she would not appoint a "placeholder" to the seat, but would appoint someone who would stand in a 2014 special election to serve the remaining two years of DeMint's term.^[3] On December 17, 2012, Haley announced that she would appoint Scott to DeMint's seat following his resignation.^[4]

Senate replacement process

Congressman Tim Scott was chosen to replace Senator Jim DeMint, following his announced resignation.

According to sources close to Governor Haley, as of December 11, 2012, she had narrowed the list of potential appointees down to five:

• Trey Gowdy, U.S. representative (SC-04)
• Henry McMaster, former South Carolina attorney general
• Jenny Sanford, former First Lady of South Carolina
• Tim Scott, U.S. representative (SC-01)
• Catherine Templeton, head of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control^[5]

Other politicians mentioned as possible replacements for DeMint included U.S. Representatives Mick Mulvaney^[6] and Joe Wilson, former U.S. Representative Gresham Barrett, state representative Nathan Ballentine, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, former Ambassador to Canada David Wilkins, former South Carolina Republican Party chair Katon Dawson, and Haley's deputy chief of staff Tedd Pitts.^[7]

Liberal comedian Stephen Colbert, a South Carolina native, expressed interest in being appointed to the seat, asking his fans to tweet Haley that she should appoint him.^[8] Chad Walldorf, the owner of the Sticky Fingers restaurant chain, was also mentioned as a potential placeholder.^[9]

Polling on DeMint's replacement

A Public Policy Polling poll released on December 10, 2012, which asked respondents who they wanted to replace DeMint, showed Colbert with the highest total. He had support at 20 percent, followed by Scott at 15 percent, Gowdy at 14 percent, and Sanford at 11 percent.^[10] Haley said that she would not appoint Colbert to the seat.^[11]

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

• Tim Scott, incumbent U.S. senator^[12]
• Randall Young^[13]

Results

Republican primary results^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Tim Scott (incumbent)	276,147	89.98%
	Republican	Randall Young	30,741	10.02%
Total votes			306,888	100.00%

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

• Joyce Dickerson, Richland County councilwoman and former chair of the National Foundation for Women Legislators^[15][16]
• Sidney Moore, former York County councilman^[17]
• Harry Pavilack, attorney and candidate for South Carolina's 7th congressional district in 2012^[18]

Withdrew

• Rick Wade, former United States Department of Commerce official and nominee for Secretary of State of South Carolina in 2002^[19][20]

Declined

• Jim Hodges, former governor of South Carolina^[21]
• John L. Scott, Jr., state senator^[22]
• James E. Smith, Jr., state representative (running for re-election)^[21][13]
• Leon Stavrinakis, state representative (running for re-election)^[21][13]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Joyce Dickerson	Sidney Moore	Harry Pavilack	Undecided
Clemson University[23]	May 26 – June 2, 2014	400	± 6%	11%	7%	3%	79%

Results

Democratic primary results^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Joyce Dickerson	72,874	65.39%
	Democratic	Sidney Moore	26,310	23.61%
	Democratic	Harry Pavilack	11,886	11.06%
Total votes			111,437	100.00%

Independent and third parties

Candidates

Declared

• Jill Bossi (American Party), vice president of the American Red Cross^[24]

Removed from ballot

• Brandon Armstrong (Independent), businesswoman^[25][26]

General election

Debates

• Complete video of debate, October 28, 2014

Endorsements

Tim Scott

Individuals

• Sarah Palin, former governor of Alaska, Republican vice-presidential nominee in 2008 ^[27]

Organizations

• American Conservative Union^[28]
• FreedomWorks^[29]
• Government Is Not God PAC (GING-PAC)^[30]
• United States Chamber of Commerce^[31]

Joyce Dickerson

Organizations

• AFL-CIO^[32]
• International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers^[33]
• United Automobile Workers^[34]

Jill Bossi

Individuals

• Brandon Armstrong, businesswoman and former Independent candidate for this seat^[26]

Organizations

• The Centrist Project^[35]

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[36]	Solid R	November 3, 2014
Sabato's Crystal Ball[37]	Safe R	November 3, 2014
Rothenberg Political Report[38]	Safe R	November 3, 2014
Real Clear Politics[39]	Safe R	November 3, 2014

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Tim Scott (R)	Joyce Dickerson (D)	Other	Undecided
Rasmussen Reports[40]	July 9–10, 2014	750	± 4%	53%	31%	6%	11%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov[41]	July 5–24, 2014	1,180	± 5.4%	52%	40%	2%	9%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov[42]	August 18 – September 2, 2014	833	± 5%	54%	33%	0%	13%
Winthrop University[43]	September 21–28, 2014	1,082	± 3%	52.4%	31.8%	1.9%[44]	13.8%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov[45]	September 20 – October 1, 2014	2,663	± 2%	54%	31%	0%	14%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov[45]	October 16–23, 2014	1,566	± 4%	57%	28%	0%	15%

Results

United States Senate special election in South Carolina, 2014^[46]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Tim Scott (incumbent)	757,215	61.12%	−0.36%
	Democratic	Joyce Dickerson	459,583	37.09%	+9.44%
	American	Jill Bossi	21,652	1.75%	N/A
	n/a	Write-ins	532	0.04%	−1.62%
Total votes			'1,238,982'	'100.0%'	N/A
	Republican hold

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Calhoun (largest town: St. Matthews)
• Clarendon (largest city: Manning)
• Sumter (largest city: Sumter)
• Richland (largest city: Columbia)

See also

• United States portal

• 2014 United States Senate election in South Carolina
• 2014 United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina
• 2014 South Carolina gubernatorial election
• 2014 United States Senate elections
• 2014 United States elections