- Lead
- 6,229
- Total
- 20,764
- vs nation
- R+28.5
South Carolina 97th State House District
President margin by year
Place winner margin
President results by year
Modeled candidate-vote estimate on current district boundaries
- Lead
- 5,255
- Total
- 20,176
- vs nation
- R+30.5
- Lead
- 4,635
- Total
- 16,076
- vs nation
- R+30.9
- Lead
- 3,681
- Total
- 15,078
- vs nation
- R+28.3
- Lead
- 3,507
- Total
- 14,594
- vs nation
- R+31.3
- Lead
- 3,746
- Total
- 11,858
- vs nation
- R+29.1
- Lead
- 3,110
- Total
- 10,440
- vs nation
- R+30.3
- Lead
- 1,664
- Total
- 8,109
- vs nation
- R+29.0
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+30.0MIT Election Lab
- Population
- 42,0572024 5-year
- Population density
- 77 / sq mi2024 5-year · TIGER/Line
- Land area
- 544 sq miTIGER/Line
- Median household income
- $64,8272024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 66.8%2024 5-year
- Black
- 21.5%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 5.2%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+98.4 in 1932MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+59.0 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- State House District 159, GA · twin score 94.2
presidential history
Party record book
South Carolina 97th State House District · the strongest Democratic and Republican presidential performances recorded here, measured three ways.
1892–2024 (partial returns from 1876) · 38 presidential cycles · 38 with a vote-share denominator · 34 with a national benchmark
Highest vote share
Largest share of the presidential candidate vote cast here.
Democratic
Franklin D. Roosevelt1932
99.1%
792 votes · D+98.4 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1936 · 98.6%
Republican
Barry Goldwater1964
79.5%
3,344 votes · R+59.0 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · James A. Garfield, 1880 · 78.6%
Most votes
Largest number of votes cast for the party’s presidential nominee here.
Democratic
Joe Biden2020
7,296votes
36.2% of the vote · R+26.0 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Kamala Harris, 2024 · 7,005 votes
Republican
Donald Trump2024
13,234votes
63.7% of the vote · R+30.0 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Donald Trump, 2020 · 12,551 votes
Best relative to the U.S.
This Place’s margin against the national margin in the same election — positive when it leaned toward the party more than the country did.
Democratic
John W. Davis1924
+119.0pts D vs U.S.
Place D+93.8 · U.S. R+25.2 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · James M. Cox, 1920 · +118.8 pts
Republican
Barry Goldwater1964
+81.6pts R vs U.S.
Place R+59.0 · U.S. D+22.6 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Richard Nixon, 1960 · +35.2 pts
Current officeholders
State legislative officeholder from OpenStates nightly current-legislator data.
Senate and governor results are in the Office selector at the top of this page.
U.S. House
Each row is a county-allocated estimate of U.S. House votes for this district — county returns apportioned onto its boundary, not precinct-counted. “Vote lead” is the estimated local lead here, not necessarily the winner of the full contest.
With a 2024 presidential margin of R+30.0, this 42,000-person district sits well outside competitive range, making it a bellwether for the GOP's baseline strength in its corner of the state.
Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of 98.4 points in 1932 and a Republican high of 59.0 points in 1964. Between 2020 and 2024 the district moved 4.0 points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was 30.0 points.
A population of 42,057, a 67% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $64,827 describe the district. The district's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of State House District 159 and State House District 65.
The state-house districts whose fingerprint — 2000–2024 trajectory, demographics, ancestry, religion — sits closest to this one, and why.
Twin score (0–100) = weighted cosine between tier-standardized fingerprints: presidential margins 2000–2024 with 12-yr trend and elasticity, ACS income, age, education, population and race, top reported ancestries, and religious adherence — chips name the closest-shared dimensions and the widest gap. Re-weight the groups in the twins explorer.
District research tools
Open the source-auditable district brief for electoral baseline, electorate, current-cycle coverage, geography, official dates, and methodology. Open campaign intelligence report → · Browse all comparisons →
South Carolina 97th State House District. Akashic. https://akashic.app/sld-lower/45097/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.