1986 South Carolina gubernatorial election

1986 South Carolina gubernatorial election

November 4, 1986

Nominee Carroll Campbell Michael R. Daniel Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 384,565 361,328 Percentage 51.0% 47.9%

County results Campbell:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Daniel:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%

Governor before election Richard Riley Democratic Elected Governor Carroll A. Campbell Jr. Republican

The 1986 South Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1986, to select the governor of the state of South Carolina. Carroll A. Campbell Jr., a Republican representative of the 4th congressional district, narrowly defeated Democrat Michael R. Daniel to become the 112th governor of South Carolina and only the second Republican governor since Reconstruction.

Democratic primary

The South Carolina Democratic Party held their primary for governor on June 10. Michael R. Daniel was declared the official candidate for the Democrats despite not obtaining 50% of the vote because second-place finisher, Winthrop University president Philip Lader, declined a runoff election.

Democratic Primary
Candidate	Votes	%
Michael R. Daniel	156,077	47.4
Philip Lader	86,136	26.1
Frank Eppes	59,125	17.9
Hugh Leatherman	28,158	8.5

Republican primary

Carroll A. Campbell, Jr. faced no opposition from South Carolina Republicans and avoided a primary election.

General election

The general election was held on November 4, 1986, and Carroll A. Campbell, Jr. 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 increasingly competitive nature of the race between the two parties.

South Carolina Gubernatorial Election, 1986

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Carroll A. Campbell, Jr.	384,565	51.02	+20.8
	Democratic	Michael R. Daniel	361,328	47.94	−21.9
	Libertarian	William Griffin	4,211	0.6	+0.6
	American	Millard Smith	3,304	0.4	+0.4
	No party	Write-Ins	341	0.1	+0.1
Majority			23,237	3.1	−36.5
Turnout			753,749	57.8	+3.2
	Republican gain from Democratic

1986 South Carolina gubernatorial election map, by percentile by county.

  65+% won by Campbell

  60%-64% won by Campbell

  55%-59% won by Campbell

  50%-54% won by Campbell

  50%-54% won by Daniel

  55%-59% won by Daniel

  60%-64% won by Daniel

  65+% won by Daniel

See also

• Governor of South Carolina
• List of governors of South Carolina
• South Carolina gubernatorial elections

External links

• SCIway Biography of Governor Carroll Ashmore Campbell, Jr.

Preceded by 1982

South Carolina gubernatorial elections

Succeeded by 1990