1994 South Carolina gubernatorial election

← 1990

November 8, 1994

1998 →


Nominee	David Beasley	Nick Theodore
Party	Republican	Democratic
Popular vote	470,756	447,002
Percentage	50.4%	47.9%

County results
Beasley: 40-50% 50-60% 60-70%
Theodore: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%

Governor before election

Carroll A. Campbell Jr.
Republican

Elected Governor

David Beasley
Republican

Federal government

U.S. President
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U.S. Senate
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U.S. House of Representatives
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State offices

General elections
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Gubernatorial elections
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State Senate elections
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State House elections
2018 2020 2022

The 1994 South Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1994, to select the governor of the state of South Carolina. The contest featured two politicians from the Upstate and David Beasley narrowly defeated Nick Theodore to become the 113th governor of South Carolina.

Democratic primary

The South Carolina Democratic Party held their primary for governor on August 9, 1994. Lieutenant Governor Nick Theodore, from the Upstate, emerged as the winner of the runoff election on August 23 against popular Charleston mayor Joseph P. (Joe) Riley Jr. and the three-term Attorney General of South Carolina, Thomas T. Medlock.

Democratic Primary
Candidate	Votes	%
Nick Theodore	129,572	49.6
Joseph P. Riley Jr.	99,967	38.2
Thomas T. Medlock	22,468	8.6
William Holler	9,439	3.6

Democratic Primary Runoff
Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Nick Theodore	113,127	50.4	+0.8
Joseph P. Riley Jr.	111,517	49.6	+11.2

Republican primary

The South Carolina Republican Party held their primary on August 9, 1994, and the contest featured state representative David Beasley from the Upstate against two Lowcountry politicians. Beasley cruised to victory and benefited from the campaign of popular Charleston mayor Joe Riley for the Democratic nomination by drawing Lowcountry voters away from the Republican primary and towards the Democratic primary.

Republican Primary
Candidate	Votes	%
David Beasley	119,724	47.2
Arthur Ravenel, Jr.	81,129	32.0
Thomas Hartnett	52,866	20.8

Republican Primary Runoff
Candidate	Votes	%	±%
David Beasley	134,297	57.6	+10.4
Arthur Ravenel, Jr.	98,915	42.4	+10.4

General election

Polling

Source	Date	Beasley (R)	Theodore (D)
The Greenville News	Nov. 3, 1994	38%	34%

Results

The general election was held on November 8, 1994, and David Beasley was elected as the next governor of South Carolina in the closest election percentage wise since the disputed election of 1876. Turnout was higher than the previous gubernatorial election because of the competitive nature of the race between the two parties.

South Carolina Gubernatorial Election, 1994
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	*David Beasley*	*470,756*	*50.4*	*-19.1*
	Democratic	Nick Theodore	447,002	47.9	+20.1
	U.S. Taxpayers Party	John R. Peeples, Jr.	8,003	0.9	+0.9
	New Alliance Party	Wayne B. Griffin	5,875	0.6	+0.6
	No party	Write-Ins	2,214	0.2	-0.2
Majority			23,754	2.5	-39.2
Turnout			933,850	62.3	+6.3
	Republican hold

1994 South Carolina gubernatorial election map, by percentile by county.
  60%-64% won by Beasley

  55%-59% won by Beasley

  50%-54% won by Beasley

  <50% won by Beasley

  <50% won by Theodore

  50%-54% won by Theodore

  55%-59% won by Theodore

  60%-64% won by Theodore

  65+% won by Theodore

References

State Election Commission (1995). South Carolina Election Report 1994–1995. Columbia, South Carolina: The Commission. p. 26.

External links

SCIway Biography of Governor David Muldrow Beasley

Preceded by 1990	South Carolina gubernatorial elections	Succeeded by 1998

v t e Elections in South Carolina
General	1900 1902 1903 1904 1906 1907 1908 1910 1912 1913 1914 1916 1917 1918 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1926 1927 1928 1930 1932 1933 1934 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1942 1943 1944 1946 1949 1950 1952 1953 1954 1956 1958 1959 1960 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1972 1973 1974 1976 1980 1988 1992 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022
State Senate	2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020
State House	2018 2020 2022
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 2018 2022
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 2020
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 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 2020 Class 3: 1789 1794/95 1800 1802 (special) 1804 (special) 1806 1812 1818 1824 1826 (special) 1830 1833 (special) 1837 1842 (special) 1848 1854 1857 (special) 1868 (special) 1872 1878 1884 1890 1897 1898 (special) 1903 1909 1914 1920 1926 1932 1938 1944 1950 1956 1962 1966 (special) 1968 1974 1980 1986 1992 1998 2004 2010 2014 (special) 2016 2022
U.S. House	1788 1790 1793 1794 5th sp 1795 2nd sp 1796 1797 1st sp 1798 1800 1802 4th sp 1803 1804 1805 8th sp 1806 1807 6th sp 1808 1810 1st sp 1810 1812 1814 1816 9th sp 1818 6th sp 1820 1821 9th sp 1822 2nd sp 4th sp 9th sp 1823 1824 1825 1st sp 1826 1828 1830 1833 1834 8th sp 1836 4th sp 8th sp 1838 1840 1843 1844 1846 1848 1st sp 1850 1853 1854 1856 1858 1860 1868 1870 1st sp 1872 1874 1876 2nd sp 1878 1880 1882 1884 7th sp 1886 1888 1890 1892 6th sp 1894 1st sp 4th sp 1896 7th sp 1897 6th sp 1898 1900 1901 7th sp 1902 1904 2nd sp 1906 1908 1910 1912 1913 1st sp 1914 1915 4th sp 1916 1917 5th sp 1918 1919 6th sp 7th sp 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 6th sp 1940 1942 1944 2nd sp 1946 1948 1950 1952 1953 4th sp 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 2nd sp 1964 1965 2nd sp 1966 1968 1970 1971 1st sp 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2001 2nd sp 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2013 1st sp 2014 2016 2017 5th sp 2018 2020 2022 Special
See also: Political party strength in South Carolina

This page was last edited on 1 January 2024, at 06:08