Many South Carolinians were outraged by the party's decision to forgo a primary election, and former Governor Strom Thurmond entered the race as a write-in candidate.

Immediately after the executive committee voted against holding a primary election, former Governor Strom Thurmond and lumberman Marcus Stone announced their intention to run as Democratic write-in candidates.

In addition, Thurmond promised that if he were elected he would resign in 1956 so that the voters could choose a candidate in the regular primary for the remaining four years of the term.

Thurmond framed the race as a "moral issue: democracy versus committee rule"[2] and his write-in campaign was repeatedly assisted by every newspaper in the state, except for those in Anderson.

For instance, The News and Courier devoted its front page on November 2 to show voters a sample ballot and it also provided detailed instructions on how to cast a write-in vote.