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The 1992 United States presidential election in South Carolina took place on November 3, 1992, as part of the 1992 United States presidential election. Voters chose 8 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

South Carolina was won by incumbent President George H. W. Bush (R-Texas) with 48.02% of the popular vote over Governor Bill Clinton (D-Arkansas) with 39.88%. Businessman Ross Perot (I-Texas) finished in third, with 11.55% of the popular vote.[1] Clinton ultimately won the national vote, defeating both incumbent President Bush and Perot.[2]

This election marked the completion of South Carolina's transformation from one of the strongest Democratic states in the country to a reliably Republican one. South Carolina had voted for the Democratic nominee in every election from 1880 (the first election after Reconstruction) through 1944, always by wide margins and usually giving the Democrat over 90% of the vote.[3] After it voted for Strom Thurmond in 1948, it returned to the Democratic fold to vote for Adlai Stevenson twice and for Kennedy in 1960, albeit narrowly.

After Barry Goldwater carried the state in 1964, however, it lost its standing as a safe Democratic state. As a socially conservative and religious Southern state, South Carolina generally trended more Republican in the 1970s and 1980s, as the center of the Democratic Party moved more into socially liberal and secular New England. Native Southerner Jimmy Carter powerfully carried the state in 1976 and only narrowly lost it in 1980, but after it spurned Arkansan Bill Clinton for George H. W. Bush in 1992, it would be counted as a safe red state, along with fellow Deep South states Mississippi and Alabama.

At the time of the election, Clinton was only the fifth Democrat to win without carrying South Carolina, after Andrew Jackson, Martin van Buren, Harry S. Truman, and Lyndon B. Johnson. As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Edgefield County voted for a Democratic presidential candidate. [4] This is the first election in which any South Carolina county cast more than one hundred thousand votes, namely Greenville and Richland.

With 48.02% of the popular vote, South Carolina would prove to be Bush's second strongest state in the 1992 election after Mississippi.[5]

Results

United States presidential election in South Carolina, 1992[1]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican George H. W. Bush (incumbent) 577,507 48.02% 8
Democratic Bill Clinton 479,514 39.88% 0
Independent Ross Perot 138,872 11.55% 0
Libertarian Andre Marrou 2,719 0.23% 0
U.S. Taxpayers' Howard Phillips 2,680 0.22% 0
New Alliance Lenora Fulani 1,235 0.10% 0
Totals 1,202,527 100.0% 8

Results by county

County George H.W. Bush
Republican
Bill Clinton
Democratic
Ross Perot
Independent
Various candidates
Other parties
Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # %
Abbeville 3,317 39.76% 3,968 47.56% 1,036 12.42% 22 0.26% -651 -7.80% 8,343
Aiken 25,731 55.01% 14,802 31.64% 6,056 12.95% 189 0.40% 10,929 23.37% 46,778
Allendale 1,049 30.36% 2,159 62.49% 212 6.14% 35 1.01% -1,110 -32.13% 3,455
Anderson 24,793 51.68% 16,072 33.50% 6,966 14.52% 140 0.29% 8,721 18.18% 47,971
Bamberg 1,906 33.28% 3,426 59.82% 360 6.29% 35 0.61% -1,520 -26.54% 5,727
Barnwell 4,026 49.24% 3,344 40.90% 752 9.20% 55 0.67% 682 8.34% 8,177
Beaufort 14,735 47.10% 11,466 36.65% 4,966 15.87% 120 0.38% 3,269 10.45% 31,287
Berkeley 18,048 50.87% 12,533 35.33% 4,632 13.06% 266 0.75% 5,515 15.54% 35,479
Calhoun 2,418 41.85% 2,770 47.94% 564 9.76% 26 0.45% -352 -6.09% 5,778
Charleston 47,403 48.00% 40,095 40.60% 10,354 10.49% 897 0.91% 7,308 7.40% 98,749
Cherokee 6,887 47.31% 5,453 37.46% 2,186 15.02% 31 0.21% 1,434 9.85% 14,557
Chester 3,451 33.54% 5,458 53.05% 1,350 13.12% 29 0.28% -2,007 -19.51% 10,288
Chesterfield 4,183 37.31% 5,691 50.76% 1,315 11.73% 23 0.21% -1,508 -13.45% 11,212
Clarendon 4,147 37.89% 6,033 55.12% 744 6.80% 21 0.19% -1,886 -17.23% 10,945
Colleton 4,545 40.17% 5,455 48.21% 1,245 11.00% 69 0.61% -910 -8.04% 11,314
Darlington 8,912 44.00% 9,090 44.88% 1,863 9.20% 388 1.92% -178 -0.88% 20,253
Dillon 3,575 38.07% 4,953 52.75% 831 8.85% 31 0.33% -1,378 -14.68% 9,390
Dorchester 15,004 53.53% 9,160 32.68% 3,648 13.02% 217 0.77% 5,844 20.85% 28,029
Edgefield 3,339 45.15% 3,433 46.42% 596 8.06% 28 0.38% -94 -1.27% 7,396
Fairfield 2,518 31.12% 4,867 60.15% 652 8.06% 54 0.67% -2,349 -29.03% 8,091
Florence 19,802 50.77% 15,569 39.92% 3,499 8.97% 133 0.34% 4,233 10.85% 39,003
Georgetown 6,870 42.22% 7,494 46.05% 1,840 11.31% 68 0.42% -624 -3.83% 16,272
Greenville 65,066 57.12% 34,651 30.42% 13,699 12.03% 491 0.43% 30,415 26.70% 113,907
Greenwood 9,079 47.98% 7,621 40.27% 2,101 11.10% 122 0.64% 1,458 7.71% 18,923
Hampton 2,402 32.63% 4,332 58.85% 564 7.66% 63 0.86% -1,930 -26.22% 7,361
Horry 23,489 45.87% 18,896 36.90% 8,472 16.55% 347 0.68% 4,593 8.97% 51,204
Jasper 1,725 29.93% 3,453 59.92% 549 9.53% 36 0.62% -1,728 -29.99% 5,763
Kershaw 8,499 49.12% 6,585 38.06% 2,150 12.43% 67 0.39% 1,914 11.06% 17,301
Lancaster 7,757 41.58% 8,307 44.53% 2,563 13.74% 28 0.15% -550 -2.95% 18,655
Laurens 8,347 48.53% 6,638 38.59% 2,157 12.54% 58 0.34% 1,709 9.94% 17,200
Lee 2,730 34.90% 4,454 56.94% 611 7.81% 27 0.35% -1,724 -22.04% 7,822
Lexington 41,759 60.50% 18,312 26.53% 8,652 12.54% 299 0.43% 23,447 33.97% 69,022
McCormick 899 29.46% 1,846 60.48% 295 9.67% 12 0.39% -947 -31.02% 3,052
Marion 3,647 35.15% 5,843 56.31% 822 7.92% 64 0.62% -2,196 -21.16% 10,376
Marlboro 2,526 29.47% 5,111 59.64% 895 10.44% 38 0.44% -2,585 -30.17% 8,570
Newberry 5,980 48.50% 4,896 39.71% 1,393 11.30% 60 0.49% 1,084 8.79% 12,329
Oconee 10,379 50.68% 6,617 32.31% 3,405 16.63% 78 0.38% 3,762 18.37% 20,479
Orangeburg 11,328 35.14% 18,440 57.21% 2,383 7.39% 83 0.26% -7,112 -22.07% 32,234
Pickens 17,008 57.67% 8,275 28.06% 4,128 14.00% 83 0.28% 8,733 29.61% 29,494
Richland 43,744 41.17% 53,648 50.49% 7,918 7.45% 940 0.88% -9,904 -9.32% 106,250
Saluda 2,968 47.80% 2,393 38.54% 833 13.42% 15 0.24% 575 9.26% 6,209
Spartanburg 37,707 51.91% 25,488 35.09% 8,900 12.25% 540 0.74% 12,219 16.82% 72,635
Sumter 12,576 47.29% 11,852 44.56% 2,062 7.75% 106 0.40% 724 2.73% 26,596
Union 4,647 43.51% 4,644 43.48% 1,371 12.84% 18 0.17% 3 0.03% 10,680
Williamsburg 5,289 37.05% 8,077 56.57% 864 6.05% 47 0.33% -2,788 -19.52% 14,277
York 21,297 48.74% 15,844 36.26% 6,418 14.69% 135 0.31% 5,453 12.48% 43,694
Totals 577,507 48.02% 479,514 39.88% 138,872 11.55% 6,634 0.55% 97,993 8.14% 1,202,527

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Results by congressional district

Bush won 5 of South Carolina's 6 congressional districts, including two districts held by Democrats.

District Bush Clinton Representative
1st 53% 33% Arthur Ravenel, Jr.
2nd 52% 36% Floyd Spence
3rd 51% 35% Butler Derrick
4th 54% 33% Bob Inglis
5th 45% 42% John Spratt
6th 31% 62% Jim Clyburn

References

  1. ^ a b "1992 Presidential General Election Results - South Carolina". U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
  2. ^ "1992 Presidential General Election Results". U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
  3. ^ "Presidential General Election Results Comparison – South Carolina". Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas.
  4. ^ Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  5. ^ "1992 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved March 5, 2018.