South Carolina's 2nd congressional district

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The 2nd Congressional District of South Carolina is a congressional district in central and eastern South Carolina. It includes all of Lexington, Beaufort, Jasper, Hampton, Allendale and Barnwell counties; almost all of Richland County and parts of Aiken, Calhoun and Orangeburg counties. It is based in the state capital, Columbia; other major cities in the district are Beaufort and Hilton Head Island.

The district's current configuration dates from 1933, when South Carolina lost a district as a result of the 1930 Census. It has been in Republican hands since 1965, when the district's second-term Democratic congressman, Albert Watson, switched parties. The district's best-known congressman, Floyd Spence, represented the district for over 30 years and was chairman of the House Armed Services Committee from 1995 to 2001, when he died a few months after being elected to a 16th term. He was succeeded in a special election by one of his former aides, state senator Joe Wilson, who continues to hold the seat.

[edit] Representatives

Name Took Office Left Office Party District Residence
William Butler 1803 1813 Democratic-Republican Mount Willing
William Lowndes 1813 1822(a) Democratic-Republican Charleston
James Hamilton, Jr. 1822(a) 1823 Democratic-Republican Charleston
1823 1829 Jacksonian
Robert W. Barnwell 1829 1831 Jacksonian Beaufort
1831 1833 Nullifier
William J. Grayson 1833 1837 Nullifier Beaufort
William K. Clowney 1837 1839 Nullifier Union
John Campbell 1839 1841 Democrat Parnassus
William Butler 1841 1843 Whig Edgefield
Richard F. Simpson 1843 1849 Democrat Pendleton
James L. Orr 1849 1853 Democrat Anderson
William Aiken 1853 1857 Democrat Charleston
William P. Miles 1857 1860 Democrat Charleston
Civil War - Occupation and Reconstruction
Christopher C. Bowen 1868 1871 Republican Charleston
Robert C. De Large 1871 1873(b) Republican Charleston
Alonzo J. Ransier 1873 1875 Republican Charleston
Edmund W.M. Mackey 1875 1876(c) Independent Republican Charleston
Charles W. Buttz 1876(c) 1877 Republican Charleston
Richard H. Cain 1877 1879 Republican Charleston
Michael P. O'Connor 1879 1881(d) Democrat Charleston
Samuel Dibble 1881(d) 1882(e) Democrat Charleston
Edmund W.M. Mackey 1882(e) 1883 Republican Charleston
George D. Tillman 1883 1893 Democrat Edgefield
W. Jasper Talbert 1893 1903 Democrat Parksville
George W. Croft 1903 1904(f) Democrat Aiken
Theodore G. Croft 1904(f) 1905 Democrat Aiken
James O'H. Patterson 1905 1911 Democrat Barnwell
James F. Byrnes 1911 1925 Democrat Aiken
Butler B. Hare 1925 1933 Democrat Saluda
Hampton Fulmer 1933 1944(g) Democrat Orangeburg
Willa Lybrand Fulmer 1944(g) 1945(g) Democrat Orangeburg
John J. Riley 1945 1949 Democrat Sumter
Hugo Sims, Jr. 1949 1951 Democrat Orangeburg
John J. Riley 1951 1962(h) Democrat Sumter
Corinne Boyd Riley 1962(h) 1963(h) Democrat Sumter
Albert Watson 1963 1965(i) Democrat(i) Columbia
1965(i) 1971 Republican(i)
Floyd Spence 1971 2001(j) Republican West Columbia, then Lexington
Joe Wilson 2001(j) present Republican Springdale

(a) William Lowndes resigned in 1822; Hamilton succeeded him in a special election.
(b) Christopher C. Bowen successfully contested the election of Robert De Large in 1870 and the seat was declared vacant on January 24, 1873, just a few weeks before being filled by Alonzo J. Ransier for the next term.
(c) Charles Buttz successfully contested the election of Edmund Mackey in 1874 and filled the seat on November 7, 1876.
(d) Michael O'Connor died in 1881; Dibble succeeded him in a special election.
(e) Edmund Mackey successfully contested the election of Michael O'Connor and special election of Samuel Dibble to the Forty-seventh Congress and filled the seat for the remainder of the term.
(f) George Croft died in 1904; his son Theodore won a special election and served as caretaker until Patterson took office in 1905.
(g) Hampton Fulmer died in 1944; his widow Willa won a special election and served as caretaker until John Riley took office in 1945.
(h) John Riley died in 1962; his widow Corinne won a special election and served as caretaker until Watson took office in 1963.
(i) Watson served his first term and the first month of his second term as a Democrat, but was stripped of his seniority in 1965 for supporting Barry Goldwater in the previous year's presidential election. He then resigned and won a special election for his own vacancy as a Republican.
(j) Spence died in 2001; Wilson succeeded him in a special election.

Source: Political Graveyard database of South Carolina congressmen