1971 South Carolina's 1st congressional district special election

1971 South Carolina's 1st congressional district special election

← 1970 April 27, 1971 1972 →
South Carolina's 1st congressional district
Nominee Mendel Jackson Davis James B. Edwards Victoria DeLee Party Democratic Republican United Citizens Popular vote 37,821 32,443 8,029 Percentage 48.3% 41.4% 10.2%
Map showing South Carolina's congressional districts in 1971 with SC-01 shown in teal
U.S. Representative before election L. Mendel Rivers Democratic Elected U.S. Representative Mendel Jackson Davis Democratic

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The 1971 South Carolina 1st congressional district special election was held on April 27, 1971 to select a Representative for the 1st congressional district to serve out the remainder of the term for the 92nd Congress. The special election resulted from the death of longtime Representative L. Mendel Rivers on December 28, 1970. Mendel Jackson Davis, a former aide to Rivers and his godson, won a surprising victory in the Democratic primary and went on to win the general election against Republican challenger James B. Edwards.