This year’s filing deadline for candidates running for Congress in South Carolina was April 1, 2024.
Twenty-nine candidates are running for South Carolina’s seven U.S. House districts, including 11 Democrats and 18 Republicans. That’s 4.14 candidates per district, more than the four candidates per district in 2022 and the 2.86 candidates in 2020.
Here are some other highlights from this year’s filings:
- The 3rd Congressional District is the only open district, meaning the incumbent did not file to run. The only other election cycle this decade when an incumbent did not run for re-election was 2018.
- Incumbent Jeff Duncan (R-3rd) is not running for re-election because he is retiring from public office.
- Nine candidates—two Democrats and seven Republicans—are running for the open 3rd Congressional District, the most candidates running for a seat in South Carolina this year.
- Nine primaries—four Democratic and five Republican—are contested this year, tying with 2018 for the most this decade.
- Three incumbents—Nancy Mace (R-1st), Joe Wilson (R-2nd), and William Timmons (R-4th)—are in contested primaries.
- Candidates filed to run in the Republican and Democratic primaries in all seven districts, meaning no seats are guaranteed to either party.
South Carolina and three other states—Maine, Nevada, and North Dakota—are holding primaries on June 11.
In South Carolina, winners in primaries are determined by majority vote. If no candidate wins a majority, a runoff election is held two weeks following the primary.
