South Carolina's 6th congressional district

South Carolina's 6th congressional district
South Carolina's 6th congressional district - since January 3, 2013.
Representative	Jim Clyburn D–Columbia
Population (2019)	665,215
Median household income	$41,128[1]
Ethnicity	57.0% Black 40.8% White 1.5% Hispanic 0.5% Asian 0.3% Native American 0.1% other
Cook PVI	D+19[2]

The 6th congressional district of South Carolina is in central and eastern South Carolina. It includes all of Allendale, Bamberg, Clarendon, Colleton, Hampton, Jasper and Williamsburg counties and parts of Beaufort, Berkeley, Calhoun, Charleston, Dorchester, Orangeburg, Richland and Sumter counties.

The district's current configuration dates from a deal struck in the early 1990s between state Republicans and Democrats in the South Carolina General Assembly to create a majority-black district. The rural counties of the historical black belt in South Carolina make up much of the district, but it sweeps south to include most of the majority-black precincts in and around Charleston, and sweeps west to include most of the majority-black precincts in and around Columbia.

From 1993 to 2013, the district stretched from the North Carolina border to the Atlantic Coast. The district borders were shifted south in the 2012 redistricting. It lost its share of the North Carolina border, and now takes in part of the area near the South Carolina-Georgia border, reaching just far enough to the north to grab its share of Columbia itself. In all of its configurations, its politics have been dominated by black voters in the Columbia and Charleston areas.

Following the Reconstruction era, the white Democratic-dominated legislature passed Jim Crow laws, as well as a new constitution in 1895 that effectively disfranchised blacks, crippling the Republican Party in the state. For most of the next 60 years, South Carolina was essentially a one-party state dominated by the Democrats, and blacks were nearly excluded from the political system.

Demographic and political changes have included the Great Migration of blacks out of the state during the Jim Crow era in the first half of the 20th century. At the same time, many white Democrats felt chagrin at the national party's greater support of civil rights for blacks from the 1940s onward, and began splitting their tickets in federal elections. After successes of the Civil Rights Movement in gaining passage of federal legislation in the mid-1960s to enforce their constitutional rights and ability to vote, blacks in South Carolina supported national Democratic candidates. Even before then, white conservatives had begun splitting their tickets and voting for Republicans at the federal level as early as the 1950s, and gradually began moving into the Republican Party in the 1980s.

Since the late 20th century, South Carolina politics have been very racially polarized. Republicans in South Carolina have been mostly white, and most African Americans in the state continue to support the Democrats. In the 21st century, the 6th is considered the only "safe" Democratic district in the state.

From 1883 to 1993, this district included the northeastern part of the state, from Darlington to Myrtle Beach. In this configuration, it was a classic "Yellow Dog" Democratic district; from the end of Reconstruction until 1993, it only elected two Republicans, both for a single term. In 2012, the new 7th congressional district was created; it includes much of the territory that was in the 6th for most of the 20th century.

Jim Clyburn, a Democrat and the current Majority Whip, has represented this district since first being elected in 1992.

Election results from presidential races

List of members representing the district

Name	Party	Years	Cong ress	Electoral history	District location
District created March 4, 1793
Andrew Pickens	Anti-Administration	March 4, 1793 – March 3, 1795	3rd	Elected in 1793.	1793–1797 "Pinckney and Washington district"
Samuel Earle	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1795 – March 3, 1797	4th	Elected in 1794. Retired.
William Smith	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1797 – March 3, 1799	5th	Elected in 1796. Lost re-election.	1797–1803 "Washington district" 1796 election results by district
Abraham Nott	Federalist	March 4, 1799 – March 3, 1801	6th	Elected in 1798. Retired.
Thomas Moore	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1801 – March 3, 1803	7th	Elected in 1800. Redistricted to the 7th district.
Levi Casey	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1803 – February 3, 1807	8th 9th	Elected in 1803. Re-elected in 1804. Re-elected in 1806. Died.	1803–1813 "Abbeville district"
Vacant		February 3, 1807 – June 2, 1807	9th 10th
Joseph Calhoun	Democratic-Republican	June 2, 1807 – March 3, 1811	10th 11th	Elected to finish Casey's term. Re-elected in 1808. Retired.
John C. Calhoun	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1811 – November 3, 1817	12th 13th 14th 15th	Elected in 1810. Re-elected in 1812. Re-elected in 1814. Re-elected in 1816. Resigned to become U.S. Secretary of War.
					1813–1823 "Abbeville district"
Vacant		November 3, 1817 – January 24, 1818	15th
Eldred Simkins	Democratic-Republican	January 24, 1818 – March 3, 1821	15th 16th	Elected to finish Calhoun's term. Re-elected in 1818. Retired.
George McDuffie	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1821 – March 3, 1823	17th	Elected in 1820. Redistricted to the 5th district.
John Wilson	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1823 – March 3, 1825	18th 19th	Redistricted from the 7th district and re-elected in 1823. Re-elected in 1824. Lost re-election.	1823–1833 "Pendleton district"
	Jacksonian	March 4, 1825 – March 3, 1827
Warren R. Davis	Jacksonian	March 4, 1827 – March 3, 1831	20th 21st 22nd 23rd	Elected in 1826. Re-elected in 1828. Died.
	Nullifier	March 4, 1831 – March 3, 1833
		March 4, 1833 – January 29, 1835			1833–1843
Vacant		January 29, 1835 – September 10, 1835	23rd 24th
Waddy Thompson Jr.	Anti-Jackson	September 10, 1835 – March 3, 1837	24th 25th 26th
	Whig	March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1841
William Butler	Whig	March 4, 1841 – March 3, 1843	27th
Isaac E. Holmes	Democratic	March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1851	28th 29th 30th 31st	Redistricted from the 1st district.	1843–1853
William Aiken Jr.	Democratic	March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1853	32nd	Redistricted to the 2nd district.
William W. Boyce	Democratic	March 4, 1853 – December 21, 1860	33rd 34th 35th 36th	Retired.	1853–1860
Inactive		December 21, 1860 – March 3, 1867	36th 37th 38th 39th	Civil War - Reconstruction
District eliminated in 1867
District re-established 1883
George W. Dargan	Democratic	March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1891	48th 49th 50th 51st		1883–1893
Eli T. Stackhouse	Democratic	March 4, 1891 – June 14, 1892	52nd	Died.
Vacant		June 14, 1892 – December 5, 1892
John L. McLaurin	Democratic	December 5, 1892 – May 31, 1897	52nd 53rd 54th 55th	Resigned when elected U.S. Senator.
1893–1903
	Vacant		May 31, 1897 – December 6, 1897	55th
	James Norton	Democratic	December 6, 1897 – March 3, 1901	55th 56th	Elected to finish McLaurin's term.
	Robert B. Scarborough	Democratic	March 4, 1901 – March 3, 1905	57th 58th
1903–1913
	J. Edwin Ellerbe	Democratic	March 4, 1905 – March 3, 1913	59th 60th 61st 62nd
J. Willard Ragsdale	Democratic	March 4, 1913 – July 23, 1919	63rd 64th 65th 66th	Died.	1913–1923
Vacant		July 23, 1919 – October 7, 1919	66th
Philip H. Stoll	Democratic	October 7, 1919 – March 3, 1923	66th 67th
Allard H. Gasque	Democratic	March 4, 1923 – June 17, 1938	68th 69th 70th 71st 72nd 73rd 74th 75th	Died.	1923–1933
1933–1943
	Vacant		June 17, 1938 – September 13, 1938	75th
	Elizabeth H. Gasque	Democratic	September 13, 1938 – January 3, 1939
	John L. McMillan	Democratic	January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1973	76th 77th 78th 79th 80th 81st 82nd 83rd 84th 85th 86th 87th 88th 89th 90th 91st 92nd	Lost renomination.
1943–1953
1953–1963
1963–1973
Edward Lunn Young	Republican	January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1975	93rd	Elected in 1972. Lost re-election.	1973–1983
John Jenrette	Democratic	January 3, 1975 – December 10, 1980	94th 95th 96th	Lost re-election and resigned early as a result of the ABSCAM scandal.
John L. Napier	Republican	January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1983	97th	Lost re-election.
Robin Tallon	Democratic	January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1993	98th 99th 100th 101st 102nd	Retired when district was redistricted as a minority-majority district.	1983–1993
Jim Clyburn	Democratic	January 3, 1993 – present	103rd 104th 105th 106th 107th 108th 109th 110th 111th 112th 113th 114th 115th 116th 117th	Elected in 1992. Re-elected in 1994. Re-elected in 1996. Re-elected in 1998. Re-elected in 2000. Re-elected in 2002. Re-elected in 2004. Re-elected in 2006. Re-elected in 2008. Re-elected in 2010. Re-elected in 2012. Re-elected in 2014. Re-elected in 2016. Re-elected in 2018. Re-elected in 2020.	1993–2003
					2003–2013
					2013–present

Recent election results

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020

See also

• South Carolina's congressional districts
• List of United States congressional districts

References

• Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present