In response, Governor Olin D. Johnston called the General Assembly into session to convert the South Carolina Democratic Party into a private club so that it could exclude blacks from its primaries.
The platform of the PDP included several civil rights issues such as the elimination of the poll tax, a prohibition of racial discrimination in hiring practices, and anti lynching laws.
It also included a provision to support the American effort in World War II and the election of President Roosevelt to a fourth term.
[citation needed] The difference was that the NAACP handled all matters relating to litigation and the PDP was in charge of political action.
It was through their efforts that the black voters provided the margin that Olin D. Johnston needed to beat Strom Thurmond in the 1950 Senate election.