Trump captured SC over Harris. How well did he fare in the Rock Hill region Tuesday?
As expected, former Republican President Donald Trump led Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in York, Chester and Lancaster counties Tuesday after some early voting and precinct numbers were released. Election Day polls closed at 7 p.m.
The Associated Press called South Carolina a Trump victory at 8:01 p.m. Statewide in South Carolina, Trump led Harris 59% to 40% at 11 p.m. with 85% of counties reporting, elections numbers from the S.C. Election Commission showed.
As of 11:30 p.m., area vote totals showed:
▪ York County showed Trump had 59% of the votes with early votes and 99% of election day precincts reporting, according to totals posted online by the S.C. Election Commission. Harris had 40% of the votes. York County has around 196,000 registered voters. About 100,000 of them — around 54% — chose early voting.
▪ In Lancaster County Trump had 62% votes to Harris’s 37% after all precincts reported Tuesday night. Lancaster showed 54% of the county’s 70,000 registered voters opted for early ballots.
▪ Trump received 58% Tuesday night in Chester County, while Harris got 41% early votes, with all 100% precincts reporting. In Chester 46% of its 20,000 registered voters participated early.
During the 2020 election, state officials extended absentee voting because of the coronavirus pandemic. Then in 2022, legislators made early voting permanent in South Carolina.
Final election day voting results were not yet available Tuesday after polls closed.
Trump won SC handily in 2016, 2020
Winthrop University political science professors Scott Huffmon and Adolphus Belk said before Tuesday’s election South Carolina is considered a safe Republican state.
The experts said that York, Chester and Lancaster counties have leaned more Republican in recent elections.
Trump won the presidency in 2016 when he defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton in the national election and in South Carolina. He lost a re-election bid to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020, but still carried South Carolina.
In 2020 Trump had 55% of South Carolina’s vote to 44% for Biden. In 2016 Trump had 55 % to Clinton’s 41%.
Trump won in York, Chester and Lancaster counties in 2016 and 2020.
In York County in 2020, Trump beat Biden handily with 57% of the votes to Biden’s 41%. In 2016 Trump’s margin of victory was even higher, with 58% of the vote to Clinton’s 36%.
He also took Chester County in 2020 with 55%, and 51 % in 2016. In Lancaster County Trump received 61% of the vote in 2016 and 2020.
Neither candidate visited the Rock Hill region for campaign events in the months leading up to Tuesday’s election, despite campaigning often in the Charlotte area in North Carolina through Saturday. Harris spoke in Charlotte Saturday while Trump held a rally in Gastonia, N.C.
Trump last campaigned in South Carolina in Rock Hill in February, the day before South Carolina’s Republican primary. He handily won the state’s primary on his way to the nomination.
This story was originally published November 5, 2024 at 9:04 PM.
