 The twenty years from 1948 to 1968 were a highly transitional time for the politics of South Carolina & Laurens County, largely in part due to the Democratic Party's increasing support for African-American civil rights & enfranchisement.South Carolinian Dixiecrat Strom Thurmond won the county in 1948, while Democrats won it back from 1952-1960.Barry Goldwater's opposition to the Civil Rights Act led the county to turn Republican for the first time ever in 1964, which it remained for Richard Nixon's two electoral victories.