The South Carolina Democratic Party held its primary in the summer of 1901. Five candidates entered the race, including the future long-time US Senator Ellison D. Smith . Asbury Francis Lever won the most votes in the first ballot and won the runoff against Thomas F. Brantley. In the general vote, Lever had no opposing candidate and was elected to the House of Representatives for the remainder of the term of the 57th Congress.
Frank E Jordan: The Primary State: A History of the Democratic Party in South Carolina, 1876-1962 , p. 122.
MR Cooper: Report of MR Cooper, Secretary of State, to the General Assembly of South Carolina . In: Reports and Resolutions of the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina , Volume II. The State Company, Columbia, SC 1902, pp. 1995-1996.