South Carolina's 2nd congressional district special election, 2001

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The 2001 South Carolina 2nd congressional district special election was held on December 18, 2001 to select a Representative for the 2nd congressional district to serve out the remainder of the term for the 107th Congress. The special election resulted from the death of longtime Representative Floyd Spence on August 16, 2001. Joe Wilson, a state senator from Lexington County, won the Republican primary and went on to win the general election against Democratic challenger Brent Weaver.

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[edit] Republican primary

The South Carolina Republican Party held their primary on October 30, 2001 and state senator Joe Wilson garnered over fifty percent of the vote to avoid a runoff election.

Republican Primary
Candidate Votes %
Joe Wilson 34,646 75.5
Joe Grimaud 6,784 14.8
Stew Butler 1,881 4.1
Richard Chalk 1,455 3.2
Clyde T. Cobb 1,115 2.4


[edit] General election campaign

The Republican Party was on the rise in South Carolina and there was a great deal of enthusiasm among its voters. The Democratic Party was clearly on the decline and was expected to fair poorly in the upcoming 2002 elections. Therefore it was no surprise that Wilson scored a decisive victory in the general election and he was sworn in to Congress the very next day.

[edit] Election results

South Carolina's 2nd Congressional District Special Election Results, 2001
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Joe Wilson 40,355 73.1 +16.1
Democratic Brent Weaver 14,034 25.4 -15.4
Libertarian Warren Eilertson 420 0.8 -0.5
Constitution Steve LeFemine 404 0.7 +0.7
No party Write-Ins 1 0.0 0.0
Majority 26,321 47.7 +31.5
Turnout 55,214
  Republican hold

[edit] See also

[edit] External links