South Carolina's 6th congressional district

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South Carolina's 6th congressional district
Population (2000) 668,670
Median income $28,967
Ethnic composition 40.8% White, 57.0% Black, 0.5% Asian, 1.5% Hispanic, 0.3% Native American, 0.1% other
Cook PVI D+11

The 6th Congressional District of South Carolina is a congressional district in central South Carolina. It includes all of Bamberg, Clarendon, Colleton, Marion and Williamsburg counties and parts of Berkeley, Calhoun, Charleston, Dorchester, Florence, Georgetown, Lee, Orangeburg, Richland and Sumter counties. The district was gerrymandered in the early 1990's from a deal by Republicans and black Democrats in the South Carolina General Assembly to ensure a majority black population. The rural counties of the black belt in South Carolina make up much of the district, but it was also carved to include the black precincts in Charleston and Columbia.

Even before the district assumed its current configuration, it was a Democratic bastion. It included the northeastern part of the state, from Darlington to Myrtle Beach. It only elected two Republicans, in both cases for only a single term.

Jim Clyburn, the current House Majority Whip, has represented this district since 1993.

[edit] Representatives

Name Took Office Left Office Party District Residence
Andrew Pickens 1793 1795 Anti-Administration Abbeville
Samuel Earle 1795 1797 Democratic-Republican
William Smith 1797 1799 Democratic-Republican Spartanburg
Abraham Nott 1799 1801 Federalist Camden
Thomas Moore 1801 1803 Democratic-Republican Spartanburg
Levi Casey 1803 1807(a) Democratic-Republican Newberry
Joseph Calhoun 1807(a) 1811 Democratic-Republican Calhoun Mills
John C. Calhoun 1811 1817(b) Democratic-Republican Abbeville
Eldred Simkins 1818(b) 1821 Democratic-Republican Edgefield
George McDuffie 1821 1823 Democrat Charleston
John Wilson 1823 1827 Jacksonian Golden Grove
Warren R. Davis 1827 1831 Jacksonian Pendleton
1831 1835(c) Nullifier
Henry L. Pinckney 1835 1837 Nullifier Charleston
Francis W. Pickens 1837 1839 Nullifier Edgefield
Robert B. Rhett 1839 1841 Democrat Beaufort
Francis W. Pickens 1841 1843 Democrat Edgefield
Isaac E. Holmes 1843 1851 Democrat Charleston
William Aiken 1851 1853 Democrat Charleston
William W. Boyce 1853 1860 Democrat Winnsboro
Civil War - Occupation and Reconstruction - Not Allocated
George W. Dargan 1883 1891 Democrat Darlington
Eli T. Stackhouse 1891 1892(d) Democrat Little Rock
John L. McLaurin 1892(d) 1897(e) Democrat Bennettsville
James Norton 1897(e) 1901 Democrat Mullins
Robert B. Scarborough 1901 1905 Democrat Conway
J. Edwin Ellerbe 1905 1913 Democrat Sellers
J. Willard Ragsdale 1913 1919(f) Democrat Florence
Philip H. Stoll 1919(f) 1923 Democrat Kingstree
Allard H. Gasque 1923 1938(g) Democrat Florence
Elizabeth H. Gasque 1938(g) 1939 Democrat Florence
John L. McMillan 1939 1973 Democrat Mullins
Edward L. Young 1973 1975 Republican Florence
John Jenrette 1975 1980(h) Democrat North Myrtle Beach
John L. Napier 1981 1983 Republican Bennettsville
Robin Tallon 1983 1993 Democrat Florence
Jim Clyburn 1993 present Democrat Sumter

(a) Levi Casey was reelected in 1806, but died on February 3, 1807 before the end of the Ninth Congress; Calhoun succeeded him in a special election and took office on June 2, 1807.
(b) John Calhoun resigned in 1817; Simkins succeeded him in a special election.
(c) Warren Davis died on January 29, 1835; the seat remained vacant until Pinckney took office.
(d) Eli Stackhouse died in 1892; McLaurin succeeded him in a special election.
(e) John McLaurin resigned on May 31, 1897 after his election to the United States Senate; Norton succeeded him in a special election.
(f) J. Willard Ragsdale died in 1919; Stoll succeeded him in a special election.
(g) Allard Gasque died in 1938; his widow Elizabeth won a special election and served as caretaker until McMillan took office in 1939.
(h) John Jenrette resigned on December 10, 1980 before his term expired in 1981; the seat remained vacant until filled by John Napier on January 3, 1981.

Source: Congressional Biographical Directory