His Democratic Party made a net gain of four seats from the Republicans, increasing their control of the Senate to 68–32.

In the Republican primary, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor for International Affairs George C. Lodge defeated U.S. representative Laurence Curtis in a close race.

A battle between two candidates from influential political families, H. Stuart Hughes ran as an independent.

Hollings was decisively defeated by Johnston because Johnston used his position as Post Office and Civil Service Committee to build 40 new post offices in the state and thus demonstrate the pull he had in Washington to bring home the bacon.

W. D. Workman Jr., a correspondent for the News and Courier, faced no opposition from South Carolina Republicans and avoided a primary election.

Both Johnston and Workman supported segregation, so the campaign centered on the economic issues of the state.

Workman tried to persuade the voters that Johnston's policies were socialist and that he was too closely aligned with the Kennedy administration.

However, the state's citizens were much poorer than that of the rest of the nation and Johnston's class based appeals made him a very popular figure for the downtrodden of both the white and black races.

The competitive nature of this race foresaw the eventual rise of the Republican Party and that South Carolinians were growing increasingly suspicious of policies generated at the federal level.