1910 South Carolina gubernatorial election
Democratic primary
Democratic primary
------------------

### Candidates

* [Cole L. Blease](/wiki/Cole_L._Blease "Cole L. Blease"), State Senator from [Newberry](/wiki/Newberry%2C_South_Carolina "Newberry, South Carolina")
* John T. Duncan
* [Claudius Cyprian Featherstone](/wiki/Claudius_Cyprian_Featherstone "Claudius Cyprian Featherstone"), [Laurens County](/wiki/Laurens_County%2C_South_Carolina "Laurens County, South Carolina") attorney
* F.H. Hyatt
* [Thomas Gordon McLeod](/wiki/Thomas_Gordon_McLeod "Thomas Gordon McLeod"), Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina
* [John Gardiner Richards, Jr.](/wiki/John_Gardiner_Richards%2C_Jr. "John Gardiner Richards, Jr."), State Representative from [Liberty Hill](/wiki/Liberty_Hill%2C_South_Carolina "Liberty Hill, South Carolina"), [Kershaw County](/wiki/Kershaw_County%2C_South_Carolina "Kershaw County, South Carolina")

By 1910, the [South Carolina Democratic Party](/wiki/South_Carolina_Democratic_Party "South Carolina Democratic Party") had split into two factions: the well\-to\-do farmers with ties to [Clemson College](/wiki/Clemson_College "Clemson College"), and the tenant farmers who largely did not benefit from many of the proposals instituted by [Benjamin Tillman](/wiki/Benjamin_Tillman "Benjamin Tillman") and his followers. Many of these poor farmers escaped the fields to the relative prosperity of a mill town. [Coleman Livingston Blease](/wiki/Coleman_Livingston_Blease "Coleman Livingston Blease"), a lawyer from [Newberry](/wiki/Newberry%2C_South_Carolina "Newberry, South Carolina"), sought to portray himself as the candidate for the downtrodden and oppressed white man who had not benefited from the Tillman era. Blease and prohibitionist candidate [Claudius Cyprian Featherstone](/wiki/Claudius_Cyprian_Featherstone "Claudius Cyprian Featherstone") emerged as the front runners in the Democratic [primary](/wiki/Partisan_primary "Partisan primary") on August 30\. Featherstone and his conservative allies attacked Blease for his coarse behavior, similar to [A.C. Haskell](/wiki/Alexander_Cheves_Haskell "Alexander Cheves Haskell")'s attacks on Tillman in the [gubernatorial election of 1890](/wiki/South_Carolina_gubernatorial_election%2C_1890 "South Carolina gubernatorial election, 1890"), but once again the attacks only strengthened the candidacy of the antagonist. On September 13, Blease won by just over 5,000 votes in the [runoff](/wiki/Two-round_system "Two-round system") to essentially become the next governor of South Carolina because there was no opposition in the general election.

### Results

| Democratic Primary | | |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|
| **[Coleman Livingston Blease](/wiki/Coleman_Livingston_Blease "Coleman Livingston Blease")** | **33,411** | **31\.7** |
| [Claudius Cyprian Featherstone](/wiki/Claudius_Cyprian_Featherstone "Claudius Cyprian Featherstone") | 30,045 | 28\.5 |
| [Thomas Gordon McLeod](/wiki/Thomas_Gordon_McLeod "Thomas Gordon McLeod") | 25,263 | 24\.0 |
| [John Gardiner Richards, Jr.](/wiki/John_Gardiner_Richards%2C_Jr. "John Gardiner Richards, Jr.") | 9,770 | 9\.3 |
| F.H. Hyatt | 5,436 | 5\.1 |
| John T. Duncan | 1,436 | 1\.4 |
|

### Runoff results

| Democratic Primary Runoff | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
|
| **[Coleman Livingston Blease](/wiki/Coleman_Livingston_Blease "Coleman Livingston Blease")** | **56,250** | **52\.6** | **\+20\.9** |
| [Claudius Cyprian Featherstone](/wiki/Claudius_Cyprian_Featherstone "Claudius Cyprian Featherstone") | 50,605 | 47\.4 | \+18\.9 |
|


What percentage of votes did each candidate receive in the Democratic primary?