2004 United States Senate election in South Carolina

2004 United States Senate election in South Carolina

November 2, 2004
 
Nominee Jim DeMint Inez Tenenbaum
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 857,167 704,384
Percentage 53.67% 44.10%

County results

DeMint:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%

Tenenbaum:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

U.S. senator before election

Fritz Hollings
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Jim DeMint
Republican

The 2004 United States Senate election in South Carolina was held on November 2, 2004. Longtime incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Fritz Hollings retired, and Republican U.S. Representative Jim DeMint won the open seat. DeMint was the first Republican to hold this Senate seat since 1879 and the first Republican ever to be popularly elected to this seat. Since DeMint took office in 2005, Republicans have held both of South Carolina’s Senate seats, which they had not done since Reconstruction.

As of 2025, this is the last time the Democratic nominee for this Senate seat was white.