South Carolina's 5th congressional district

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
South Carolina's 5th congressional district
Current Representative John Spratt (D)
Population (2000) 668,668
Median income $35,416
Ethnicity 64.9% White, 32.3% Black, 0.5% Asian, 1.8% Hispanic, 0.6% Native American, 0.0% other
Cook PVI R+6


The 5th Congressional District of South Carolina is a congressional district in northern South Carolina bordering North Carolina. It includes all of Cherokee, Chester, Chesterfield, Darlington, Dillon, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lancaster, Marlboro, Newberry and York counties and parts of Florence, Lee and Sumter counties. Outside the rapidly growing city of Rock Hill, the district is mostly rural and agricultural.

The district is one of the few remaining in the former Confederacy to have never elected a Republican since Reconstruction, and Democrats still hold most offices outside Republican-dominated York County. Despite this, few of the area's Democrats can be described as liberal by national standards; most are fairly conservative on social issues, but less so on economics. The only significant blocs of Republican voters are in Cherokee County, which shares the Republican tilt of most of the rest of the Upstate, and more affluent voters in the fast-growing Charlotte suburbs.

John Spratt, a Democrat and the senior member of the state's congressional delegation, has represented the district since 1983.

[edit] Representatives

Name Took Office Left Office Party District Residence
Richard Winn 1803 1813 Democratic-Republican Winnsboro
David R. Evans 1813 1815 Democratic-Republican Winnsboro
William Woodward 1815 1817 Democratic-Republican unknown
Starling Tucker 1817 1823 Democratic-Republican Mountain Shoals
George McDuffie 1823 1834(a) Democrat Charleston
Francis W. Pickens 1834(a) 1837 Nullifier Edgefield
Hugh S. Legaré 1837 1839 Democrat Charleston
Francis W. Pickens 1839 1841 Democrat Edgefield
Isaac E. Holmes 1841 1843 Democrat Charleston
Armistead Burt 1843 1853 Democrat Abbeville
James L. Orr 1853 1859 Democrat Anderson
John D. Ashmore 1859 1860 Democrat Greenville
Civil War - Occupation and Reconstruction - Not Allocated
Robert Smalls 1875 1879 Republican Beaufort
George D. Tillman 1879 1882(b) Democrat Edgefield
Robert Smalls 1882(b) 1883 Republican Beaufort
John J. Hemphill 1883 1893 Democrat Chester
Thomas J. Strait 1893 1899 Democrat Lancaster
David E. Finley 1899 1917(c)(d) Democrat York
Paul Grier McCorkle 1917(c) 1917 Democrat York
William F. Stevenson 1917(d) 1933 Democrat Cheraw
James P. Richards 1933 1957 Democrat Lancaster
Robert W. Hemphill 1957 1964(d) Democrat Chester
Thomas S. Gettys 1964(d) 1974(e) Democrat Rock Hill
Kenneth L. Holland 1975(e) 1983 Democrat Gaffney
John M. Spratt, Jr. 1983 present Democrat York

(a) George McDuffie resigned in 1834; Pickens succeeded him in a special election.
(b) Robert Smalls successfully contested the election of George D. Tillman in 1880 and filled the seat on July 19, 1882.
(c) David Finley was reelected in 1916, but died on January 26, 1917 before the end of the Sixty-fourth Congress; McCorkle won a special election for the completion of the term for the Sixty-fourth Congress and took office on February 21, 1917.
(d) David Finley was reelected in 1916, but died on January 26, 1917 before the end of the Sixty-fourth Congress; Stevenson succeeded him in a special election and took office when the Sixty-fifth Congress began on March 4, 1917.
(d) Robert Hemphill resigned in 1964 to accept a position on the United States district court; Gettys succeeded him in a special election.
(e) Thomas Gettys resigned on December 31, 1974 before his term expired in 1975; the seat remained vacant until filled by Kenneth Holland on January 3, 1975.

Source: Congressional Biographical Directory

Personal tools