2022 United States Senate election in South Carolina

The 2022 United States Senate election in South Carolina was held on November 8, 2022, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the state of South Carolina. Incumbent Republican Senator Tim Scott won reelection to a second full term, defeating state representative Krystle Matthews.^[1] This was the third consecutive election for this seat where both major party nominees were black.

2022 United States Senate election in South Carolina

← 2016 November 8, 2022 2028 →

Nominee Tim Scott Krystle Matthews Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,066,274 627,616 Percentage 62.88% 37.01%

County results Congressional district results Precinct results Scott:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Matthews:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%      No data

U.S. senator before election Tim Scott Republican Elected U.S. senator Tim Scott Republican

Scott was appointed to the U.S. Senate in 2013 following the resignation of fellow Republican Jim DeMint. With 61.1% of the vote, he won the 2014 special election to serve the remainder of DeMint's term. Scott was then re-elected to a full six-year term in 2016 with 60.6% of the vote.

Primary elections in South Carolina were held on June 14, 2022. Scott won the Republican primary unopposed, while Matthews won the Democratic primary in a June 28 runoff.^[2]

Scott has said this election would be his last, and will not run again in 2028.^[3][4]

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Tim Scott, incumbent U.S. Senator (2013–present)^[3]

Withdrawn

• Timothy Swain^[5] (opted to run for State House seat 121, defeated in primary)^[6][7]

Endorsements

Tim Scott

Executive Branch officials

• Nikki Haley, former United States Ambassador to the United Nations (2017–2018) and former governor of South Carolina (2011–2017)^[8]
• Mike Pence, 48th vice president of the United States (2017–2021)^[9]
• Mike Pompeo, former U.S. Secretary of State (2018–2021)^[9]
• Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States (2017–2021)^[10]

U.S. Senators

• Lindsey Graham, U.S. Senator from South Carolina (2003–present)^[9]
• Mitch McConnell, Minority Leader of the United States Senate (2021-present), U.S. Senator from Kentucky (1985–present)^[11]

U.S. Representatives

• Jeff Duncan, U.S. Representative from South Carolina's 3rd congressional district (2011–present)^[9]
• Nancy Mace, U.S. Representative from South Carolina's 1st congressional district (2021–present)^[9]
• Ralph Norman, U.S. Representative from South Carolina's 5th congressional district (2017–present)^[9]
• Tom Rice, U.S. Representative from South Carolina's 7th congressional district (2013–2023)^[9]
• William Timmons, U.S. Representative from South Carolina's 4th congressional district (2019–present)^[9]
• Joe Wilson, U.S. Representative from South Carolina's 2nd congressional district (2001–present)^[9]

Individuals

• Drew McKissick, Chair of the South Carolina Republican Party (2017–present)^[9]

Organizations

• Black America's Political Action Committee^[12]
• Pro-Israel America^[13]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Krystle Matthews, former state representative (2018–2022)^[14][15]

Eliminated in runoff

• Catherine Fleming Bruce, author and activist^[16][17]

Eliminated in primary

• Angela Geter, former chair of the Spartanburg County Democratic Party^[18] candidate for South Carolina House of Representatives in 2017^[19] and candidate in the 2024 South Carolina Senate election.^[20]

First round

Results

Initial primary results by county:

  Bruce

•   30–40%
•   40–50%

  Matthews

•   30–40%
•   40–50%

  Geter

•   30–40%
•   40–50%
•   50–60%

Democratic primary results^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Catherine Fleming Bruce	59,777	34.69%
	Democratic	Krystle Matthews	57,278	33.24%
	Democratic	Angela Geter	55,281	32.08%
Total votes			172,336	100.0%

Runoff

Results

Primary runoff results by county:

  Matthews

•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%
•   80–90%

  Bruce

•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70-80%

Democratic primary runoff results^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Krystle Matthews	25,300	55.77%
	Democratic	Catherine Fleming Bruce	20,064	44.23%
Total votes			45,364	100.0%

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[23]	Solid R	November 19, 2021
Inside Elections[24]	Solid R	January 7, 2022
Sabato's Crystal Ball[25]	Safe R	November 3, 2021
Politico[26]	Solid R	April 1, 2022
RCP[27]	Safe R	January 10, 2022
Fox News[28]	Solid R	May 12, 2022
DDHQ[29]	Solid R	July 20, 2022
538[30]	Solid R	June 30, 2022
The Economist[31]	Safe R	September 7, 2022

Endorsements

Tim Scott (R)

Executive Branch officials

• Nikki Haley, former United States Ambassador to the United Nations (2017–2018) and former governor of South Carolina (2011–2017)^[8]
• Mike Pence, 48th vice president of the United States (2017–2021)^[9]
• Mike Pompeo, former U.S. Secretary of State (2018–2021)^[9]
• Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States (2017–2021)^[10]

U.S. Senators

• Lindsey Graham, U.S. Senator from South Carolina (2003–present)^[9]
• Mitch McConnell, U.S. Senate Minority Leader from Kentucky (1985–present)^[11]

U.S. Representatives

• Jeff Duncan, U.S. Representative from South Carolina's 3rd congressional district (2011–present)^[9]
• Nancy Mace, U.S. Representative from South Carolina's 1st congressional district (2021–present)^[9]
• Ralph Norman, U.S. Representative from South Carolina's 5th congressional district (2017–present)^[9]
• Tom Rice, U.S. Representative from South Carolina's 7th congressional district (2013–2023)^[9]
• William Timmons, U.S. Representative from South Carolina's 4th congressional district (2019–present)^[9]
• Joe Wilson, U.S. Representative from South Carolina's 2nd congressional district (2001–present)^[9]

Individuals

• Drew McKissick, Chair of the South Carolina Republican Party (2017–present)^[9]

Organizations

• American Israel Public Affairs Committee^[32]
• Black America's PAC^[12]
• Campaign for Working Families^[32]
• Citizens Against Government Waste^[33]
• ClearPath Action Fund^[32]
• National Rifle Association - Political Victory Fund^[34][32]
• National Right to Life Committee^[32]
• Pro-Israel America^[13]
• Stand for America PAC^[35]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[a]	Margin of error	Tim Scott (R)	Krystle Matthews (D)	Larry Adams Jr. (I)	Other	Undecided
Echelon Insights[36]	August 31 – September 7, 2022	600 (RV)	± 5.1%	54%	37%	–	–	9%
Moore Information Group (R)[37]	March 8–13, 2022	500 (LV)	± 4.0%	57%	25%	5%	2%	11%

Results

2022 United States Senate election in South Carolina^[38]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Tim Scott (incumbent)	1,066,274	62.88%	+2.31%
	Democratic	Krystle Matthews	627,616	37.01%	+0.08%
	Write-in		1,812	0.11%	+0.02%
Total votes			1,695,702	100.00%	N/A
	Republican hold

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Hampton (largest city: Hampton)
• Jasper (largest city: Hardeeville)
• Marlboro (largest city: Bennettsville)

By congressional district

Scott won six of seven congressional districts.^[39]

District	Scott	Matthews	Representative
1st	62%	38%	Nancy Mace
2nd	62%	38%	Joe Wilson
3rd	75%	25%	Jeff Duncan
4th	67%	33%	William Timmons
5th	65%	35%	Ralph Norman
6th	41%	59%	Jim Clyburn
7th	67%	33%	Tom Rice (117th Congress)
			Russell Fry (118th Congress)

See also

• 2022 United States Senate elections
• 2022 South Carolina elections

Notes

1. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   V – unclear