South Carolina gubernatorial election, 1994

November 8, 1994



Nominee	David Beasley	Nick Theodore
Party	Republican	Democratic
Popular vote	470,756	447,002
Percentage	50.4%	47.9%

Governor before election

Carroll A. Campbell, Jr.
Republican

Elected Governor

David Beasley
Republican

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The 1994 South Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1994 to select the governor of the state of South Carolina. The contest featured two politicians from the Upstate and David Beasley narrowly defeated Nick Theodore to become the 113th governor of South Carolina.

Democratic primary

The South Carolina Democratic Party held their primary for governor on August 9, 1994. Lieutenant Governor Nick Theodore, from the Upstate, emerged as the winner of the runoff election on August 23 against popular Charleston mayor Joseph P. (Joe) Riley, Jr..

Democratic Primary
Candidate	Votes	%
Nick Theodore	129,572	49.6
Joseph P. Riley, Jr.	99,967	38.2
T. Travis Medlock	22,468	8.6
William Holler	9,439	3.6

Democratic Primary Runoff
Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Nick Theodore	113,127	50.4	+0.8
Joseph P. Riley, Jr.	111,517	49.6	+11.2

Republican primary

The South Carolina Republican Party held their primary on August 9, 1994 and the contest featured state representative David Beasley from the Upstate against two Lowcountry politicians. Beasley cruised to victory and benefited from the campaign of popular Charleston mayor Joe Riley for the Democratic nomination by drawing Lowcountry voters away from the Republican primary and towards the Democratic primary.

Republican Primary
Candidate	Votes	%
David Beasley	119,724	47.2
Arthur Ravenel, Jr.	81,129	32.0
Thomas Hartnett	52,866	20.8

Republican Primary Runoff
Candidate	Votes	%	±%
David Beasley	134,297	57.6	+10.4
Arthur Ravenel, Jr.	98,915	42.4	+10.4

General election

Polling

Source	Date	Beasley (R)	Theodore (D)
The Greenville News	Nov. 3, 1994	38%	34%

Results

The general election was held on November 8, 1994 and David Beasley was elected as the next governor of South Carolina in the closest election percentage wise since the disputed election of 1876. Turnout was higher than the previous gubernatorial election because of the competitive nature of the race between the two parties.

South Carolina Gubernatorial Election, 1994
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	David Beasley	470,756	50.4	-19.1
	Democratic	Nick Theodore	447,002	47.9	+20.1
	U.S. Taxpayers Party	John R. Peeples, Jr.	8,003	0.9	+0.9
	New Alliance Party	Wayne B. Griffin	5,875	0.6	+0.6
	No party	Write-Ins	2,214	0.2	-0.2
Majority			23,754	2.5	-39.2
Turnout			933,850	62.3	+6.3
	Republican hold

References

State Election Commission (1995). South Carolina Election Report 1994-1995. Columbia, SC: The Commission. p. 26.

External links

SCIway Biography of Governor David Muldrow Beasley

Preceded by 1990	South Carolina gubernatorial elections	Succeeded by 1998

Elections in South Carolina

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SC Senate	2000 2004 2008 2012

SC Governor	1865 1868 1870 1872 1874 1876 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1930 1934 1938 1942 1946 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014

U.S. President	1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012

U.S. Senate	Class 2: 1912 1918 (special) 1918 1924 1930 1936 1941 (special) 1942 1948 1954 1956 (special) 1960 1966 1972 1978 1984 1990 1996 2002 2008 2014 Class 3: 1896 1897 (special) 1902 1908 1914 1920 1926 1932 1938 1944 1950 1956 1962 1966 (special) 1968 1974 1980 1986 1992 1998 2004 2010 2014 (special)

U.S. House	1788 1790 1793 1794 1796 1798 1800 1803 1804 1806 1808 1810 1812 1814 1816 1818 1823 1824 1826 1828 1830 1833 1834 1836 1838 1840 1843 1844 1846 1848 1850 1853 1854 1856 1858 1860 1865 1868 1870 1872 1874 1876 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1901 [sp-7] 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1915 [sp-4] 1916 1918 1919 [sp-6] 1919 [sp-7] 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1953 [sp-4] 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1971 [sp-1] 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2001 [sp-2] 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2013 [sp-1] 2014 Special

See also: Political party strength in South Carolina