- Lead
- 13,803
- Total
- 35,226
- vs nation
- D+40.7
South Carolina 42nd State Senate District
President margin by year
Place winner margin
President results by year
Modeled candidate-vote estimate on current district boundaries
- Lead
- 19,055
- Total
- 39,156
- vs nation
- D+44.2
- Lead
- 15,394
- Total
- 35,898
- vs nation
- D+40.8
- Lead
- 13,136
- Total
- 32,502
- vs nation
- D+36.6
- Lead
- 14,230
- Total
- 31,715
- vs nation
- D+37.6
- Lead
- 8,982
- Total
- 26,406
- vs nation
- D+36.5
- Lead
- 6,643
- Total
- 21,038
- vs nation
- D+31.1
- Lead
- 6,038
- Total
- 18,328
- vs nation
- D+24.4
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- D+39.2MIT Election Lab
- Population
- 105,8942024 5-year
- Population density
- 1,789 / sq mi2024 5-year · TIGER/Line
- Land area
- 59.2 sq miTIGER/Line
- Median household income
- $59,8232024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 33.5%2024 5-year
- Black
- 45.3%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 14.5%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+98.0 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- State Senate District 33, KY · twin score 93.9
presidential history
Party record book
South Carolina 42nd State Senate 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
Woodrow Wilson1916
98.5%
655 votes · D+97.0 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1936 · 98.3%
Republican
Barry Goldwater1964
48.5%
3,664 votes · D+3.0 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Richard Nixon, 1972 · 48.3%
Most votes
Largest number of votes cast for the party’s presidential nominee here.
Democratic
Joe Biden2020
28,729votes
73.4% of the vote · D+48.7 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Hillary Clinton, 2016 · 24,790 votes
Republican
Donald Trump2024
10,343votes
29.4% of the vote · D+39.2 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Donald Trump, 2020 · 9,674 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
James M. Cox1920
+120.0pts D vs U.S.
Place D+93.8 · U.S. R+26.2 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · John W. Davis, 1924 · +117.4 pts
Republican
Barry Goldwater1964
+19.6pts R vs U.S.
Place D+3.0 · U.S. D+22.6 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Richard Nixon, 1960 · −15.7 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.
| Year | Vote lead | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | D | 60.0%21,968 | 40.0%14,668 | 36,636 |
South Carolina 42nd State Senate District sits in the Deep South. In 2024 it voted Democratic.
Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of 98.0 points in 1912. Between 2020 and 2024 the district moved 9.5 points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was 39.2 points.
A population of 105,894, a 34% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $59,823 describe the district. The district's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of State Senate District 33 and State Senate District 2.
The state-senate 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 42nd State Senate District. Akashic. https://akashic.app/sld-upper/45042/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.