The 1948 South Carolina United States Senate election was held on November 2, 1948 to select the U.S. Senator from the state of South Carolina. Incumbent Senator Burnet R. Maybank won the Democratic primary and defeated Republican challenger J. Bates Gerald in the general election to win another six-year term.
Since the end of Reconstruction in 1877, the Democratic Party dominated the politics of South Carolina and its statewide candidates were never seriously challenged. Maybank did not campaign for the general election as there was no chance of defeat.
Jordan, Frank E. The Primary State: A History of the Democratic Party in South Carolina, 1876-1962. p. 79.
"Supplemental Report of the Secretary of State to the General Assembly of South Carolina." Reports and Resolutions of South Carolina to the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina. Volume I. Columbia, SC: 1949, p. 11.