South Carolina Democrats returned to the polls for a gubernatorial runoff that exposed one of the deepest political divisions in the state during the early twentieth century. Incumbent Governor Richard Irvine Manning III faced former governor Coleman Livingston Blease, whose political organization and populist appeal had dominated South Carolina politics for much of the previous decade. Because the Democratic Party controlled state politics and African American citizens had been systematically disfranchised through the state constitution, election laws, and Democratic primary rules, victory in the party primary was effectively equivalent to election. The Manning-Blease runoff therefore represented the decisive contest for the governorship.
The September contest resulted from the first Democratic primary held on August 29, 1916. Official tabulations gave Blease 64,384 votes, Manning 41,536, Robert A. Cooper 31,305, John T. Duncan 269, and John Madison DesChamps 307. Although Blease finished substantially ahead of Manning, he lacked the majority required for nomination. Manning therefore advanced to the second primary despite trailing Blease by 22,848 votes. Cooper's more than 31,000 votes consequently became a critical part of the political arithmetic. The runoff required voters who had supported other candidates to choose between two men who represented sharply competing political factions.
Blease entered the race with an unusually strong political identity. A Newberry attorney and veteran politician, he had served as governor from 1911 until January 1915. His administrations generated intense controversy, especially because of his extensive use of executive clemency. The National Governors Association records that Blease granted pardons or paroles to roughly 2,000 prisoners during his governorship. He had also built a loyal electoral following among many white working-class and rural voters and had repeatedly challenged the political establishment that opposed him. Blease had won the governorship in 1910 and reelection in 1912, when he defeated Ira B. Jones by only 3,329 votes. His continued strength in 1916 demonstrated that leaving the governor's office had not dismantled his political organization.
Manning represented the principal organized opposition to Blease. A Sumter County businessman, banker, cotton farmer, and experienced public official, Manning had become governor in January 1915. His first term followed years of factional conflict associated with Blease's rise. Manning entered the 1916 campaign as an incumbent with access to an established statewide coalition, yet the first-primary totals demonstrated that Blease remained individually stronger than any other candidate. Manning's challenge was therefore not simply to preserve his original support but to attract enough voters who had backed Cooper and the minor candidates to overturn Blease's commanding first-round plurality.
The September 12 returns showed that Manning accomplished that reversal. Election-night reports initially placed him several thousand votes ahead. A Laurens newspaper reported late that evening that returns pointed to a Manning victory even though thousands of votes remained uncounted. Subsequent county returns confirmed the result. When the State Democratic Executive Committee officially canvassed the election, it declared Manning the nominee with 71,463 votes against Blease's 66,785, a margin of 4,678 votes. Contemporary reports indicated that Manning carried 27 of South Carolina's 45 counties. The figures reveal the scale of the electoral shift: Manning gained nearly 30,000 votes between the first and second primaries, while Blease increased his total by only a few thousand.
The result did not immediately end the controversy. Blease supporters alleged that improper methods had influenced the election. W. R. Richey Jr., a Blease supporter on the State Democratic Executive Committee, presented accusations involving money, liquor, intimidation, and irregular political influence. Blease himself, however, did not file a formal contest with the committee. When the committee considered the official canvass, 31 members voted to adopt the report declaring Manning the nominee, while six opposed it. The committee's action formally settled the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.
The September 12 election was significant because it demonstrated both the durability and the limits of Blease's political movement. Blease entered the runoff after winning a powerful first-primary plurality, yet Manning assembled a broader majority in the decisive contest. The election also illustrated the central importance of the Democratic primary in South Carolina's one-party political system. The general election provided little meaningful competition; the decisive political choice occurred within the Democratic Party. Manning's victory allowed him to continue as governor through January 1919, while Blease remained an influential political figure and later represented South Carolina in the United States Senate. The 1916 runoff therefore stands as a major episode in the state's early twentieth-century factional politics, when a statewide electorate divided between two established political leaders ultimately chose Manning by fewer than 5,000 votes.
References / More Knowledge:
Historical Newspapers of South Carolina, University of South Carolina. Manning and Blease in Second Primary, September 7, 1916.
https://historicnewspapers.sc.edu/lccn/sn86063790/1916-09-07/ed-1/seq-5/
Historical Newspapers of South Carolina, University of South Carolina. Manning Leading for the Governorship, September 13, 1916.
https://historicnewspapers.sc.edu/lccn/sn93067760/1916-09-13/ed-1/seq-1/
Historical Newspapers of South Carolina, University of South Carolina. Democratic Nominees Named, September 23, 1916.
https://historicnewspapers.sc.edu/lccn/sn93067846/1916-09-23/ed-1/seq-1/
Historical Newspapers of South Carolina, University of South Carolina. Manning Declared Democratic Nominee, September 22, 1916.
https://historicnewspapers.sc.edu/lccn/sn93067853/1916-09-22/ed-1/seq-1/
Historical Newspapers of South Carolina, University of South Carolina. Analysis of Returns in Previous Races, August 18, 1916.
https://historicnewspapers.sc.edu/lccn/sn86063758/1916-08-18/ed-1/seq-2/
National Governors Association. Coleman Livingston Blease.
https://www.nga.org/governor/coleman-livingston-blease/
National Governors Association. Richard Irvine Manning III.
https://www.nga.org/governor/richard-irvine-manning-iii/
South Carolina Department of Archives and History. Chronological List of Governors.
https://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/guide/StateRecords/rg0166chron.htm