Which Voters gave Barack Obama a victory in South Carolina? It seems to me that many of the political talkers on cable news think Obama's victory was an African-American victory. And it wasn't that at all. Obama gathered votes from a variety of demographic categories. As the two news items I link to point out. What it is, is, more African-Americans live in South Carolina then in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada.... and therefore the SC primary was Obama's and Clinton's first real test to see who would gather the most votes from the African-American population that lives in SC.
Summary by Congressional Districts
The 1st Congressional District, represented by Henry Brown (R), population (758,235) is 21% Black. Voted 61% for Bush in 2004. Covers the area just south of Charleston and north to Myrtle Beach. Obama gathered at least 60% of the votes from this district, except for the Myrtle Beach area, where Hillary gathered 39% to Obama’s 33%, Edwards gathered 28%.
The 2nd Congressional District, represented by Joe Wilson (R), population (737,272) is 26% Black. Voted 60% for Bush in 2004. Includes most of metro Columbia, (Obama 66%) extends south to Barnwell County, (Obama 60%) takes in horse farm country around Aiken (Obama 53%) and several lightly populated, low-income, black majority rural counties. Also includes Beaufort County on the coast, Hilton Head Island and the Marine Corps’s Parris Island. (Obama 56%)
The 3rd Congressional District, represented by Gresham Barrett (R), population 697,985 is 20.5% black. Voted 66% for Bush in 2004. Includes North Augusta, Aiken, (Obama 53%) extends north to Greenwood, (Obama 59%), Anderson, (Obama 36%) and to the northern border, Oconee, where Edwards gathered 45%, Clinton gathered 29% and Obama came in 3rd with 26%.
The 4th Congressional District, represented by Bob Inglis (R), population 706,004 is 19.7% Black. Home of Bob Jones University. Voted 65% for Bush in 2004. Includes Greenville, (Obama 50%) Spartanburg (Obama 44%).
The 5th Congressional District, represented by John Spratt (D), population 707,115 is 32.2% Black. Includes Rock Hill, one of 3 areas where Clinton gathered at least 35% of the vote, though not enough to win the district. Lancaster (Obama 46%), Fairfield, (Obama 69%), Chester (Obama 59%).
The 6th Congressional District, represented by James Clyburn (D), population 642,387 is 56.7% Black. Includes Sumter, (Obama 72%), Colleton, (Obama 60%), Bamberg, (Obama 63%).
In the 2004 Presidential Primary election ALL Democrat candidates gathered 293,843.
In the 2008 Presidential Primary election there were 530,322 voters.
Total population in South Carolina is 4,321,249 and consists of
66.1% White
29.4 % Black
2.4% Hispanic Origin
0.9% Asian
0.3% Native American
0.8% Two+ races
0.1% Other
my resources:
Election and population statistics: The Almanac of American Politics - 2008 registration required
News item CQ Politics Obama Wins Convincingly in South Carolina, as Rivals Look Ahead
Homepage of The State which has a link to
Exit polls: Why Obama won,voter mood, more By WAYNE WASHINGTON
Washington writes: Obama racked up huge margins of support from black voters and also beat Clinton among all women, exit polls showed. He won among men and all age groups, and matched Clinton’s support among white voters.
Another link from The State homepage leads to County-by-county results by The Charlotte Observer which is really neat. Roll your mouse over any county to view results. Click on a candidate name to shade map for statewide results.
(look for this link UNDER the 2008 Election box on the right side of the page)
Yahoo News Look for the link to Election 08 Political Dashboard.
Districts maps: National Atlas Congressional Districts - 110th Congress - Click on Map Layers Section - From the Index page choose Boundaries - Then choose Congressional Districts of the United States - 110th Congress - Pick the State you want to see, and then choose the Layers you want displayed from the Topics on the right side.
