1978 United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina

The 1978 South Carolina United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 7, 1978 to select six Representatives for two-year terms from the state of South Carolina. The primary elections for the Democrats and the Republicans were held on June 13. All five incumbents who ran were re-elected, but the open seat in the 4th congressional district was taken by the Republicans from the Democrats. The composition of the state delegation after the elections was four Democrats and two Republicans.

1st Congressional District

Incumbent Democratic Congressman Mendel Jackson Davis of the 1st congressional district, in office since 1971, defeated Benjamin Frasier in the Democratic primary and Republican C.C. Wannamaker in the general election.

Democratic primary

Democratic Primary
Candidate	Votes	%
Mendel Jackson Davis	48,541	86.4
Benjamin Frasier	7,631	13.6

General election results

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South Carolina's 1st Congressional District Election Results, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Mendel J. Davis (incumbent)	65,835	60.6	−8.3
	Republican	C.C. Wannamaker	42,811	39.4	+8.3
Majority			23,024	21.2	−16.6
Turnout			108,646
Democratic hold

2nd Congressional District

Incumbent Republican Congressman Floyd Spence of the 2nd congressional district, in office since 1971, defeated Democratic challenger Jack Bass.

Democratic primary

Democratic Primary
Candidate	Votes	%
Jack Bass	34,630	57.6
B.E. Hadley	25,520	42.4

General election results

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South Carolina's 2nd Congressional District Election Results, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Floyd Spence (incumbent)	71,208	57.3	−0.2
	Democratic	Jack Bass	53,021	42.7	+0.9
	No party	Write-Ins	4	0.0	0.0
Majority			18,187	14.6	−1.1
Turnout			124,233
Republican hold

3rd Congressional District

Incumbent Democratic Congressman Butler Derrick of the 3rd congressional district, in office since 1975, defeated Republican challenger Anthony J. Panuccio.

General election results

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South Carolina's 3rd Congressional District Election Results, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Butler Derrick (incumbent)	81,638	81.9	−18.1
	Republican	Anthony J. Panuccio	17,973	18.1	+18.1
	No party	Write-Ins	24	0.0	0.0
Majority			63,665	63.8	−36.2
Turnout			99,635
Democratic hold

4th Congressional District

Incumbent Democratic Congressman James R. Mann of the 4th congressional district, in office since 1969, opted to retire. Carroll A. Campbell, Jr., a Republican state senator from Greenville, defeated Robert Watkins in the Republican primary and Democrat Max M. Heller in the general election.

Democratic primary

Democratic Primary
Candidate	Votes	%
Max M. Heller	25,295	53.1
Nick Theodore	22,319	46.9

Republican primary

Republican Primary
Candidate	Votes	%
Carroll A. Campbell, Jr.	6,808	88.3
Robert Watkins	899	11.7

General election results

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South Carolina's 4th Congressional District Election Results, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Carroll A. Campbell, Jr.	51,377	52.1	+25.6
	Democratic	Max M. Heller	45,484	46.2	−27.3
	Independent	Don W. Sprouse	1,693	1.7	+1.7
	No party	Write-Ins	34	0.0	0.0
Majority			5,893	5.9	−41.1
Turnout			98,588
Republican gain from Democratic

5th Congressional District

Incumbent Democratic Congressman Kenneth Lamar Holland of the 5th congressional district, in office since 1975, defeated Colleen H. Yates in the Democratic primary and Independent Harold Hough in the general election.

Democratic primary

Democratic Primary
Candidate	Votes	%
Ken Holland	46,247	65.0
Colleen H. Yates	24,853	35.0

General election results

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South Carolina's 5th Congressional District Election Results, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Ken Holland (incumbent)	63,538	82.6	+31.1
	Independent	Harold Hough	13,251	17.2	+17.0
	No party	Write-Ins	175	0.2	+0.2
Majority			50,287	65.4	+62.2
Turnout			76,964
Democratic hold

6th Congressional District

Incumbent Democratic Congressman John Jenrette of the 6th congressional district, in office since 1975, defeated Jeryl Best in the Democratic primary and was unnopposed in the general election.

Democratic primary

Democratic Primary
Candidate	Votes	%
John Jenrette	58,320	76.9
Jeryl Best	17,541	23.1

General election results

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South Carolina's 6th Congressional District Election Results, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John Jenrette (incumbent)	69,372	99.7	+44.2
	No party	Write-Ins	222	0.3	+0.3
Majority			69,150	99.4	+87.9
Turnout			69,594
Democratic hold

See also

• United States House elections, 1978
• United States Senate election in South Carolina, 1978
• South Carolina gubernatorial election, 1978
• South Carolina's congressional districts

References

• State Election Commission (1979). Report of the South Carolina State Election Commission. Columbia, SC: State Election Commission. pp. 55–57.