2017 South Carolina's 5th congressional district special election
# 2017 South Carolina's 5th congressional district special election

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A special election was held on June 20, 2017, to determine the member of the United States House of Representatives for South Carolina's 5th congressional district. Representative Mick Mulvaney was nominated by President Donald Trump as director of the Office of Management and Budget and confirmed by the United States Senate on February 16, 2017, necessitating his resignation from the House of Representatives.

State Representative Ralph Norman narrowly defeated Archie Parnell, a senior advisor for Goldman Sachs, 51.0% to 47.9%, in a low-turnout election.

## Republican primary

### Candidates

**Declared**

* Chad Connelly, former chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party
* Ray Craig, international ministry aid worker
* Sheri Few, education activist, candidate for Superintendent of Education in 2014 and state house candidate in 2006, 2008 and 2010
* Tom Mullikin, attorney and commander of the South Carolina State Guard
* Ralph Norman, state representative
* Tommy Pope, state representative
* Kris Wampler, attorney

**Declined**

* Penry Gustafson, former businesswoman and community advocate of Camden, SC
* Gary Simrill, state representative

### Endorsements

* Trey Gowdy, U.S. Representative
* Nikki Haley, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
* Jim DeMint, former Senator from South Carolina
* Ted Cruz, Senator from Texas
* Joe Wilson, U.S. Representative
* Scott Walker, Governor of Wisconsin
* Club for Growth Action, conservative super PAC
* Jeff Duncan, U.S. Representative
* Al Simpson, chief of staff to former U.S. Representative Mick Mulvaney

### Polling

**First round**

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Chad Connelly | Sheri Few | Tom Mullikin | Ralph Norman | Tommy Pope | Kris Wampler | Other | Undecided |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Atlantic Research and Media of North Carolina* | February 25, 2017 | 239 | ± 6.2% | 1% | 9% | 8% | 11% | 19% | 0% | — | 51% |
| Remington Research Group | January 7–8, 2017 | 778 | ± 3.4% | 9% | — | — | 9% | 25% | — | 6% | 52% |

*Internal survey for the Sheri Few campaign

**Runoff**

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Ralph Norman | Tommy Pope | Undecided |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Trafalgar Group | May 8–10, 2017 | 1000+ | ± 3.1% | 46% | 45% | 9% |

### Results

South Carolina's 5th congressional district special election Republican primary, 2017 :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Republican | Tommy Pope | 11,943 | 30.4% |
| | Republican | Ralph Norman | 11,808 | 30.1% |
| | Republican | Tom Mullikin | 7,759 | 19.8% |
| | Republican | Chad Connelly | 5,546 | 14.1% |
| | Republican | Sheri Few | 1,930 | 4.9% |
| | Republican | Kris Wampler | 197 | 0.5% |
| | Republican | Ray Craig | 87 | 0.2% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 39,270 | 100.00% |
| Runoff election |||||
| | Republican | Ralph Norman | 17,823 | 50.31% |
| | Republican | Tommy Pope | 17,602 | 49.69% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 35,425 | 100.00% |

## Democratic primary

### Candidates

**Declared**

* Alexis Frank, recent college graduate and army veteran
* Les Murphy, United States Marine Corps veteran
* Archie Parnell, Goldman Sachs senior adviser

**Declined**

* Thomas McElveen, state senator
* John King, state representative
* Mandy Powers Norrell, state representative
* Fran Person, nominee for this seat in 2016
* Vincent Sheheen, state senator and nominee for governor in 2010 and 2014

**Results**

South Carolina's 5th congressional district special election Democratic primary, 2017 :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Democratic | Archie Parnell | 13,333 | 71.3% |
| | Democratic | Alexis Frank | 4,030 | 21.5% |
| | Democratic | Les Murphy | 1,346 | 7.2% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 18,709 | 100.00% |

## Libertarian Party

### Candidates

**Nominated**

* Victor Kocher

**Eliminated at convention**

The Libertarian Party nominating convention was held April 1, 2017.

* Bill Bledsoe
* Nathaniel Cooper

## Green Party

### Candidates

**Nominated**

* David Kulma, professor at Winthrop University and musician

## General election

### Candidates

* Ralph Norman (Republican)
* Archie Parnell (Democratic)
* Victor Kocher (Libertarian)
* David Kulma (Green)
* Josh Thornton (American)

### Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Ralph Norman (R) | Archie Parnell (D) | Other | Undecided |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Change Research | June 14–18, 2017 | 872 | ± 3% | 53% | 44% | 3% | – |
| Gravis Marketing | May 19–22, 2017 | 746 | ± 3.6% | 47% | 34% | 3% | 16% |
| Victory Enterprises/Rampart PAC (R) | May 17–18, 2017 | 629 | ± 3.9% | 53% | 36% | – | 11% |

### Results

South Carolina's 5th congressional district special election, 2017 :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Republican | Ralph Norman | 45,076 | 51.04% | -8.03% |
| | Democratic | Archie Parnell | 42,341 | 47.94% | +9.17% |
| | American | Josh Thornton | 319 | 0.36% | -1.74% |
| | Libertarian | Victor Kocher | 273 | 0.31% | N/A |
| | Green | David Kulma | 242 | 0.27% | N/A |
| | Write-In | Write-in | 65 | 0.07% | +0.31% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 88,316 | 100.0% | |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

### County results

Vote breakdown by county :

| | Ralph Norman Republican | Ralph Norman Republican | Archie Parnell Democrat | Archie Parnell Democrat | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| County | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes |
| Cherokee | 3,367 | 61.86% | 2,031 | 37.31% | 5,443 |
| Chester | 1,940 | 45.20% | 2,301 | 53.61% | 4,292 |
| Fairfield | 1,125 | 32.33% | 2,314 | 66.49% | 3,480 |
| Kershaw | 3,720 | 52.53% | 3,299 | 46.59% | 7,081 |
| Lancaster | 6,237 | 55.07% | 4,985 | 44.02% | 11,325 |
| Lee | 632 | 25.54% | 1,825 | 73.74% | 2,475 |
| Newberry | 1,627 | 51.07% | 1,519 | 47.68% | 3,186 |
| Spartanburg | 763 | 70.98% | 302 | 28.09% | 1,075 |
| Sumter | 3,757 | 39.64% | 5,671 | 59.84% | 9,477 |
| Union | 1,436 | 50.35% | 1,397 | 48.98% | 2,852 |
| York | 20,472 | 54.44% | 16,697 | 44.33% | 37,630 |
