COLUMBIA — U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn beat his Republican challenger Duke Bucker on Nov. 5 with 57 percent of the vote to Buckner’s 38 percent.
The Associated Press called the race around 10:00 p.m. Clyburn, the Democratic incumbent, is one of South Carolina’s most entrenched incumbents in the deep-red state
He faced Buckner a second time for his 6th Congressional District seat, which runs from the Lowcountry to the Midlands.
Clyburn has held the seat for over three decades. Buckner challenged and lost to Clyburn in 2022. And the district has not elected a Republican since 1984.
Buckner, a lawyer, former newspaper owner and Walterboro city councilman, sought to highlight the district’s poverty levels and Clyburn’s age of 84, as well as capitalize on inflation and immigration frustrations.
He largely avoided talking about former President Donald Trump, declining to say whether he voted for him.
The 6th District for years encompassed rural counties in the state’s Black belt, and several majority-Black precincts in Columbia and Charleston. The district lines changed in January 2022 when the State Legislature passed a map significantly altering the composition of Congressional Districts 1 and 6.
The district is still the only majority-minority district in the state.
The South Carolina Republican Party donated $2,000 to his campaign in September, as previously reported by The Post and Courier.
“Running against an incumbent is always tough, but that’s exactly why Duke Buckner is fit for the job,” said Drew McKissick, the state GOP chairman. “His platform addresses the district’s dire need for economic growth and his showing against Clyburn in 2022 marks the best by a Republican to date.”
Clyburn, who didn’t face a challenger in the June primary, said that if people want change, he hasn’t heard it.
“I don’t have a message for him,” Clyburn said when asked about his opponent’s charge for change. “I talk to constituents all the time. I have not had one single constituent say anything other to me other than ‘Please don’t leave here.'”
This story will be updated.
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