On July 25, Governor Olin Johnston defeated incumbent senator Ellison "Cotton Ed" Smith in the Democratic primary with 55.2% of the vote.

Johnston instead would put a great deal of focus into praising Roosevelt's popular foreign policy which was succeeding in bringing the United States closer to victory in World War II.

The Supreme Court had decided early in the year in the case Smith v. Allwright that primary elections must be open to all, regardless of race.

Johnston, as governor, had called the General Assembly into session to make the South Carolina Democratic Party a private club so that it could restrict its primaries to white voters.

Thus on the campaign trail Johnston was able to prove to the voters that he had acted during a time of crisis to save the Democratic primary from the blacks.