Congressman Joe Wilson has represented this strongly conservative district that runs from the southern coast of South Carolina to the suburbs of Columbia since 2001.

Freshman Republican Congressman J. Gresham Barrett faced no opposition in his bid for a second term in this western South Carolina district, the most conservative one in the state.

When incumbent Republican Congressman Jim DeMint decided to run for Senate instead of seeking a fourth term, former Republican Congressman Bob Inglis, who had previously represented this seat, defeated Democrat Brandon Brown and Green Party candidate Faye Walters to return to Congress for his fourth term.

Though President George W. Bush comfortably won this district in 2004, Spratt was able to handily defeat Republican Albert Spencer.

In a rematch from the 2002 election, incumbent Democratic Congressman Jim Clyburn, a member of the Democratic House leadership, encountered Republican opponent Gary McLeod, whom he defeated again this year by a similar margin from two years earlier.