Tim Scott

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Tim Scott
Henry E. Brown Jr.
Succeeded byMark Sanford
Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives
from the 117th district
In office
January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2011
Preceded byTom Dantzler
Succeeded byBill Crosby
Member of the Charleston County Council
from the 3rd district
In office
February 8, 1995 – January 3, 2009
Preceded byKeith Summey
Succeeded byElliott Summey
Personal details
Born
Timothy Eugene Scott

(1965-09-19) September 19, 1965 (age 58)
North Charleston, South Carolina, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Domestic partnerMindy Noce (engaged 2024)
EducationCharleston Southern University (BS)
Signature
WebsiteSenate website

Timothy Eugene Scott (born September 19, 1965) is an American businessman and politician serving as the

U.S. Representative. He also worked in financial services
before entering politics.

Scott served on the Charleston County Council from 1995 to 2009. He then served in the South Carolina General Assembly from 2009 to 2011, and represented South Carolina's 1st congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2011 to 2013.

Nikki Haley, who was then governor of South Carolina, appointed Scott to the U.S. Senate in 2013 to fill a vacancy. He retained his Senate seat after winning a special election in 2014, and was elected to a full term in 2016 and reelected in 2022. He became the first African-American senator to be elected from the Southern United States since the Reconstruction era.[1][2]

Scott was a candidate in the 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries, forming an exploratory committee on April 13, 2023.[3] He filed Federal Election Commission paperwork to run for president on May 19, and formally declared his candidacy three days later.[4] Scott suspended his campaign on November 12 of that year due to low poll numbers.[5]

Early life and education

Tim Scott was born on September 19, 1965, in North Charleston, South Carolina, to Frances, a nursing assistant, and Ben Scott Sr. When Scott was seven years old, his parents divorced, leaving him and his older brother, who later became a sergeant major in the U.S. Army, to grow up in working-class poverty with their mother. Frances often worked double shifts to support her family.[6][7]

After his parents' divorce, Scott, along with his mother and older brother, moved into his maternal grandparents' house. There, he formed a close bond with his grandfather.[6]

As a freshman at North Charleston's R.B. Stall High School, he failed several subjects, prompting his mother to send him to summer school, which he had to finance by working at a local movie theater.[6] During this time, he met John Moniz, the owner of a nearby Chick-fil-A. Their initial interaction over a sandwich at Scott's workplace evolved into a substantial mentorship. Moniz educated Scott on individual responsibility, conservative business principles, philanthropy, and finance.[6]

From an early age, Scott enjoyed sports, and excelled at football. He overcame racial prejudice in high school, securing election as student body vice president in his junior year and student body president as a senior.[6]

A month before his senior year, he fell asleep while driving, resulting in a car accident that dimmed his prospects as a football recruit. Nevertheless, he attended Presbyterian College from 1983 to 1984 on a partial football scholarship. There he was introduced to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, an encounter that led him to his Christian faith, which became a central part of his life.[6] Scott later transferred to Charleston Southern University, where he graduated in 1988 with a Bachelor of Science degree in political science.[8]

Upon graduating from college, Scott worked as an insurance agent and financial adviser, a stepping stone toward starting his insurance agency, Tim Scott Allstate. His professional accomplishments enabled him to purchase a home for his mother.[6]

Early political career

Charleston County Council (1995–2009)

Elections

Scott ran in a February 1995 special election for the Charleston County Council

North Charleston.[9][10] Scott won the seat as a Republican, receiving nearly 80% of the vote in the white-majority district.[11] He became the first black Republican elected to any office in South Carolina since the late 19th century.[12]

In 1996, Scott challenged

Democratic State Senator Robert Ford in South Carolina's 42nd Senate district but lost 65–35%.[13][14]

Scott was reelected to the Charleston County Council in 2000.

better source needed
]

Tenure on County Council

Scott served on the Charleston County Council from 1995 until 2009, becoming chairman in 2007.

King James version of the Commandments to the wall. Shortly thereafter, the ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State challenged this in a federal suit. After an initial court ruling that the display was unconstitutional, the council settled out of court to avoid incurring more legal fees. Of the costs of the suit, Scott said, "Whatever it costs in the pursuit of this goal is worth it."[19]

In January 2001, the U.S.

Voting Rights Act, because its council seats were based on at-large elections, meaning that the whole county voted to fill each seat. DOJ had attempted to negotiate with county officials on this issue in November 2000. Justice officials noted that at-large seats dilute the voting strength of the significant African American minority in the county, who in 2000 made up 34.5% of the population. They had been unable to elect any "candidates of their choice" for years. Whites or European Americans made up 61.9% of the county population.[20] County officials noted that the majority of voters in 1989 had approved electing members by at-large seats in a popular referendum.[21]

Scott, the only African American member of the county council, said of this case and the alternative of electing council members from

single-member districts
:

I don't like the idea of segregating everyone into smaller districts. Besides, the Justice Department assumes that the only way for African-Americans to have representation is to elect an African-American, and the same for whites. Obviously, my constituents don't think that's true.[21]

The Department of Justice alleged that the issue was not a question of ethnicity, stating that voters in black precincts in the county had rejected Scott as a candidate for the council. The lawsuit noted that because of the white majority, "white bloc voting usually results in the defeat of candidates who are preferred by black voters."[21] The Department added that blacks live in compact areas of the county and could be a majority in three districts if the county seats were apportioned as nine single-member districts.[21]

The Department of Justice won the case. A new districting plan replaced the at-large method of electing the Charleston City Council. The federal court found that the former method violated the Voting Rights Act, following a lawsuit brought by the Justice Department.[22] Scott was then elected to the Charleston County Council by District 3, rather than by the whole county.[16]

Committee assignments

  • Economic Development Committee (Chair)[23]

South Carolina House of Representatives (2009–2011)

Elections

In 2008, incumbent Republican State Representative

better source needed] becoming the first Republican African-American State Representative in South Carolina in more than 100 years.[27][28][failed verification
]

Tenure in state legislature

Scott supported South Carolina's

right-to-work laws and argued that Boeing chose South Carolina as a site for manufacturing for that reason.[29]

In South Carolina Club for Growth's 2009–2010 scorecard, Scott earned a B and a score of 80 out of 100.[30] The South Carolina Association of Taxpayers praised his "diligent, principled and courageous stands against higher taxes."[31]

Committee assignments

  • Judiciary
  • Labor, Commerce and Industry
  • Ways and Means[32]

U.S. House of Representatives (2011–2013)

Elections

2010

Scott entered the election for

Henry Brown announced his retirement. The 1st district is based in Charleston and includes approximately the northern 3/4 of the state's coastline (except for Beaufort and Hilton Head Island, which were included in the 2nd District after redistricting).[33]

Scott finished first in the nine-candidate June 8 Republican primary, receiving a plurality of 32% of the vote.

Governor Carroll A. Campbell Jr., was third with 14%.[35][36] Charleston County School Board member Larry Kobrovsky ranked fourth with 11%. Five other candidates had single-digit percentages.[37]

A runoff was held on June 22 between Scott and Thurmond. Scott was endorsed by the Club for Growth,[38] various Tea Party movement groups, former Alaska governor and vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin,[39][40] Republican House Whip Eric Cantor,[41] former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee,[42] and South Carolina Senator and Minuteman Project founder Jim DeMint.[13] He defeated Thurmond[43] 68–32% and won every county in the district.[44][45]

According to the Associated Press, Scott "swamped his opponents in fundraising, spending almost $725,000 during the election cycle to less than $20,000 for his November opponents".[39] He won the general election against Democratic nominee Ben Frasier 65–29%.[46] With this election, Scott and Allen West of Florida became the first African-American Republicans in Congress since J. C. Watts retired in 2003.[47] Scott also became the first African-American Republican elected to Congress from South Carolina in 114 years.[48]

2012

Scott was unopposed in the primary and won the general election against Democratic nominee Bobbie Rose, 62–36%.

better source needed][50]

Tenure as congressman

Scott's official 112th Congress portrait

Scott declined to join the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). He recognized the efforts of the CBC but said "My campaign was never about race."[51]

In March 2011, Scott co-sponsored a welfare reform bill that the liberal blog ThinkProgress said would terminate food stamps to families when a family member participates in a labor strike; the Republican Study Committee denied that charge.[52][53] He introduced legislation in July 2011 so that the National Labor Relations Board could not order "any employer to relocate, shut down, or transfer employment under any circumstance".[54] The NLRB had recently opposed the relocation of a Boeing production facility from Washington state to South Carolina.[54]

Scott successfully advocated for federal funds for a Charleston harbor dredging project estimated at $300 million, saying the project was neither an earmark nor an example of wasteful government spending. He said the project was merit-based and in the national interest because larger cargo ships could use the port and jobs would be created.[55] During the summer 2011 debate over raising the U.S. debt ceiling, Scott supported the inclusion of a balanced budget amendment in the debt ceiling bill, but after a day full of meetings and prayer he went from leaning No on the bill to voting No.[56][57]

Scott speaking at a Veterans Day event in 2011

Committee assignments

The House Republican Steering Committee appointed Scott to the Committee on Transportation and the Committee on Small Business.[58] He was later appointed to the Committee on Rules and relinquished his other two assignments.[59]

U.S. Senate (2013–present)

2012 appointment

On December 17, 2012, South Carolina governor

Reconstruction.[61]

During two periods, first from January 2, 2013, until February 1, 2013, and again from July 16, 2013, until October 31, 2013, Scott was the only African American senator. He and Cowan were the first black senators to serve alongside each other.

News media reported that Scott, Representative Trey Gowdy, former South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster, former First Lady of South Carolina Jenny Sanford, and South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control Director Catherine Templeton were on Haley's short list to replace DeMint.[62] Of choosing Scott, Haley said, "It is important to me, as a minority female, that Congressman Scott earned this seat, he earned this seat for the person that he is. He earned this seat with the results he has shown."[63]

Elections

2014