1990 United States Senate election in South Carolina

United States Senate election in South Carolina, 1990

November 6, 1990

Nominee Strom Thurmond Bob Cunningham Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 482,032 244,112 Percentage 64.2% 32.5%

Senator before election Strom Thurmond Republican Elected Senator Strom Thurmond Republican

The 1990 South Carolina United States Senate election was held on November 6, 1990 to select the U.S. Senator from the state of South Carolina. Popular incumbent Republican Senator Strom Thurmond cruised to re-election against Democratic challenger Bob Cunningham.

Primaries

Senator Strom Thurmond faced no opposition from South Carolina Republicans and avoided a primary election. The state Democrats saw this as an unwinnable race so when Bob Cunningham sought the Democratic nomination, he was unopposed in his bid.

General election campaign

Cunningham, a retired intelligence officer, had little chance of defeating Strom Thurmond and the election was never a serious contest. Thurmond overwhelmingly outspent Cunningham in his re-election campaign.

Election results

#E81B23

South Carolina U.S. Senate Election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Strom Thurmond	482,032	64.2	-2.6
	Democratic	Bob Cunningham	244,112	32.5	+0.7
	Libertarian	William H. Griffin	13,804	1.8	+0.4
	American	Marion C. Metts	10,317	1.4	+1.4
	No party	Write-Ins	464	0.1	+0.1
Majority			237,920	31.7	-3.3
Turnout			750,729	55.2	-13.5
Republican hold

See also

• List of United States Senators from South Carolina
• United States Senate elections, 1990
• South Carolina gubernatorial election, 1990

References

• State Election Commission (1991). South Carolina Election Commission Annual Report 1990-1991. Columbia, SC: The Commission. p. 91.