United States Senate election in South Carolina, 1972

November 7, 1972



Nominee	Strom Thurmond	Eugene N. Zeigler
Party	Republican	Democratic
Popular vote	428,145	246,182
Percentage	63.5%	36.5%

Senator before election

Strom Thurmond
Republican

Elected Senator

Strom Thurmond
Republican

Elections in South Carolina

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Ballot measures

The 1972 South Carolina United States Senate election was held on November 7, 1972 to select the U.S. Senator from the state of South Carolina. Popular incumbent Republican Senator Strom Thurmond easily defeated Democratic challenger Eugene N. Zeigler.

Democratic Primary

The South Carolina Democratic Party held their primary for governor on August 29, 1972. Eugene N. Zeigler, a state senator from Florence, defeated John Bolt Culbertson to become the Democratic nominee in the general election.

Democratic Primary
Candidate	Votes	%
Eugene N. Zeigler	201,170	58.7
John Bolt Culbertson	141,757	41.3

Republican Primary

Senator Strom Thurmond faced no opposition from South Carolina Republicans and avoided a primary election.

General election campaign

The general election campaign was a lackluster affair as Thurmond was heavily favored to win re-election and he outspent Zeigler by a margin of four to one. However, Thurmond's re-election was almost derailed when his hometown newspaper, the Edgefield Advertiser, ran the headline "SEN. THURMOND IS UNPRINCIPLED WITH COLORED OFFSPRING WHILE PARADING AS A DEVOUT SEGREGATIONIST" on the October 11 front page. The Thurmond campaign fiercely denied that he had sired a black child and claimed that it was a dirty trick being played by the Zeigler campaign. While the allegation ultimately proved true, at the time it served to galvanize voters for Thurmond.

Election results

South Carolina U.S. Senate Election, 1972
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Republican	Strom Thurmond	428,145	63.5	+1.3
	Democratic	Eugene N. Zeigler	246,182	36.5	-1.3
Majority			181,963	27.0	+2.6
Turnout			674,327	65.2	+16.1
	Republican hold

References

Bass, Jack; Marilyn W. Thompson (2005). Strom: The Complicated Personal and Political Life of Strom Thurmond. PublicAffairs. pp. 267–270.
State Election Commission (1973). Report of the South Carolina State Election Commission. Columbia, SC: State Election Commission. p. 572.

Elections in South Carolina

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SC Senate	2000 2004 2008 2012

SC Governor	1865 1868 1870 1872 1874 1876 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1930 1934 1938 1942 1946 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014

U.S. President	1788-89 1792 1796 1800 1804 1808 1812 1816 1820 1824 1828 1832 1836 1840 1844 1848 1852 1856 1860 1868 1872 1876 1880 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016

U.S. Senate	Class 2: 1789 1793 1796 (special) 1798 (special) 1799 1801 (special) 1810 (special) 1810 1816 (special) 1822 1828 1832 (special) 1834 1840 1845 (special) 1846 1850 (special) 1852 1858 (special) 1868 (special) 1870 1876 1882 1888 1894 1900 1906 1912 1918 (special) 1918 1924 1930 1936 1941 (special) 1942 1948 1954 1956 (special) 1960 1966 1972 1978 1984 1990 1996 2002 2008 2014 Class 3: 1789 1794/95 1800 1802 (special) 1804 (special) 1806 1812 1818 1824 1826 (special) 1830 1833 (special) 1837 1842 (special) 1842 1848 1854 1857 (special) 1868 (special) 1872 1878 1884 1890 1897 1898 (special) 1902 1908 1914 1920 1926 1932 1938 1944 1950 1956 1962 1966 (special) 1968 1974 1980 1986 1992 1998 2004 2010 2014 (special)

U.S. House	1788 1790 1793 1794 1796 1798 1800 1803 1804 1806 1808 1810 1812 1814 1816 1818 1823 1824 1826 1828 1830 1833 1834 1836 1838 1840 1843 1844 1846 1848 1850 1853 1854 1856 1858 1860 1865 1868 1870 1872 1874 1876 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1901 [sp-7] 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1915 [sp-4] 1916 1918 1919 [sp-6] 1919 [sp-7] 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1953 [sp-4] 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1971 [sp-1] 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2001 [sp-2] 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2013 [sp-1] 2014 Special

See also: Political party strength in South Carolina

(1970 ←) 1972 United States elections (→ 1974)

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