South Carolina 85th State House District, South Carolina: Old Confederacy district. In 2024, voted R+33%. Democratic peak: D+100 in 1932.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+33MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- Old ConfederacyAkashic typology
- Population
- 25,4402024 5-year
- Median household income
- $77,4082024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 72.0%2024 5-year
- Black
- 15.3%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 7.9%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+100 in 1932MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+71 in 1972MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for State House District 85, SCOne cell per constituent county, colored by 2024 presidential margin from deep red (Republican) through neutral to deep blue (Democratic), ordered bluest first.
R+60D+60
One cell per constituent county. Ordered by 2024 D-vs-R margin (bluest first). Hover for county-level numbers.
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 3,990 | 8,091 | 12,258 | ||
| R | 4,114 | 7,745 | 12,063 | ||
| R | 2,940 | 6,677 | 10,187 | ||
| R | 2,849 | 6,397 | 9,397 | ||
| R | 2,779 | 6,255 | 9,138 | ||
| R | 2,119 | 5,601 | 7,796 | ||
| R | 1,905 | 4,847 | 6,932 | ||
| R | 1,578 | 3,309 | 5,233 | ||
| R | 1,528 | 3,484 | 5,759 | ||
| R | 948 | 3,460 | 4,442 | ||
| R | 737 | 3,223 | 3,982 | ||
| R | 1,029 | 2,362 | 3,495 | ||
| R | 1,196 | 1,789 | 3,010 | ||
| R | 340 | 2,113 | 2,494 | ||
| R | 339 | 1,018 | 2,100 | ||
| R | 401 | 1,005 | 1,406 | ||
| R | 347 | 543 | 890 | ||
| O | 175 | 99 | 479 | ||
| R | 293 | 335 | 628 | ||
| O | 47 | 5 | 239 | ||
| D | 166 | 2 | 177 | ||
| D | 125 | 1 | 126 | ||
| D | 178 | 0 | 181 | ||
| D | 12 | 0 | 12 | ||
| D | 102 | 5 | 108 | ||
| D | 116 | 1 | 117 | ||
| D | 151 | 5 | 156 | ||
| D | 172 | 3 | 181 | ||
| D | 100 | 0 | 106 | ||
| D | 209 | 7 | 216 | ||
| D | 201 | 5 | 206 | ||
| D | 109 | 3 | 111 | ||
| D | 140 | 16 | 156 | ||
| D | 107 | 6 | 134 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
14.0%
English
13.3%
Irish
10.4%
American
7.9%
Italian
2.9%
Scottish
2.1%
Polish
1.8%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity that overlaps the race categories, so these shares can total more than 100%. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.
Age distribution by sex
Median age: 39.8 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
85+
75–84
65–74
55–64
45–54
35–44
25–34
18–24
5–17
<5
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Median household income
2024 inflation-adjusted dollars
$77,408
State House District 85 ranks near the middle of US counties.
State House District 85$77,408
South Carolina$69,324
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
11.1%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1814.4%
Working age (18–64)10.2%
Seniors (65+)9.6%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
90.5%
speak English only
Spanish5.8%
Other Indo-European1.9%
Asian & Pacific Islander1.0%
Other languages0.8%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 47.0% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
District 85 sits among South Carolina's narrower legislative battlegrounds, where a 4.9-point Democratic presidential lean signals a persuadable electorate rather than a locked partisan base.
The shift began with civil rights. The realignment unfolded over the late twentieth century. The Republican margin reached its widest at seventy-one points in 1972. The 2024 margin was thirty-three points.
The political shift has tracked, in South Carolina 85th State House District, the political shift of the South more broadly. A 72% non-Hispanic-white share, a median household income of $77,408, and a 11% poverty rate describe the demographic context.
Compare two places, side by side
Twelve curated comparisons line up election history, demographics, and the divergence story for two places at a glance. Browse all comparisons →
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
State House District 85, South Carolina. Akashic. https://akashic.app/sld-lower/45085/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did State House District 85, South Carolina vote in 2024?
In 2024, State House District 85, South Carolina voted Republican by 33.5 points (R+33), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 12,258 votes cast, 3,990 went Democratic and 8,091 went Republican.
What is State House District 85, South Carolina's political archetype?
Akashic classifies State House District 85, South Carolina as a "Old Confederacy" district based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the district has voted Democratic 14 times, Republican 18 times, and other 2 times.
When did State House District 85, South Carolina last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which State House District 85, South Carolina voted Democratic was 1944.
How many people live in State House District 85, South Carolina?
State House District 85, South Carolina has a population of 25,440 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in State House District 85, South Carolina?
Median household income in State House District 85, South Carolina is $77,408 — below the national median of $80,734. The South Carolina state median is $69,324.
What is the political history of State House District 85, South Carolina?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in State House District 85, South Carolina from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 14 went Democratic and 18 went Republican. The district's archetype — "Old Confederacy" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.