Tom Clements (politician)
Tom Clements | |
---|---|
Personal details | |
Born | 1951 (age 72–73) Savannah, Georgia, U.S. |
Political party | Green |
Residence(s) | Columbia, South Carolina |
Alma mater | Emory University, BA; master’s degree in Forest Resources, University of Georgia |
Occupation | Southeastern Nuclear Campaign Coordinator with Friends of the Earth |
Website | scgreenparty |
Tom Clements (born 1951) is an American environmental activist and politician from
Activism
Clements worked as a policy analyst in the
2010 Senatorial campaign
Clements, who had no previous experience with the Green Party, was approached by party leadership in January 2010 and asked to run for the
Clements raised more than $45,000 by mid-October.[7] Incumbent Jim DeMint reported more than $3 million raised to date. Democrat Alvin Greene reported no fundraising activities. Clements campaigned around the state from June through November 1, appearing at NAACP forums, stump meetings, editorial conferences and other public events. The campaign financed TV and radio advertisements to run in the Columbia, Charleston and Pee Dee regions during the two weeks prior to the election.
A Winthrop University poll conducted between October 5 and 10 with 741 likely South Carolina voters found Clements running second with 12.2% of the vote against 11.2% for Democrat Alvin Greene and 58.3% for incumbent Jim DeMint.[8][9]
Political positions
Clements opposes the continuing practice of dumping nuclear waste in South Carolina. He opposes offshore drilling, with his website calling it "a potentially disastrous gamble that could destroy South Carolina’s coastline, along with her fishing and tourism industries".
Senate candidacy endorsements
On July 6, 2010, the Greater Columbia Central Labor Council of the SC AFL-CIO gave Clements their endorsement.[11][12] On September 9, The Nation's John Nichols suggested that Democrats embrace Clements as the most progressive choice and best option in the South Carolina Senate election over Greene and DeMint.[13]
Clements for Senate was formally endorsed by the national Sierra Club,[14] Friends of the Earth Action,[15] and by the South Carolina Latino Political Action Committee.[16]
In a first for a minor party candidate in South Carolina, Clements was endorsed for Senate by a daily paper, the
Campaign result
Clements received 121,472 in the final tally, 9.22% of the total 1,318,794 votes cast.[18] This is the best result for a candidate in South Carolina who was not a Democrat or Republican since Strom Thurmond won as a write-in candidate in 1954.[19] Clements' result also exceeds the previous best result for a progressive statewide candidate; Ralph Nader received 20,297 votes for President from SC in 2000.[20]
Personal and education
Clements was born in 1951 in Savannah, Georgia. He is an eighth generation Georgian. He served in the Peace Corps in Costa Rica and is fluent in Spanish. Clements has an MA degree in Forest Resources from the University of Georgia and a BA from Emory University.[21]
See also
- Anti-nuclear movement in the United States
- Friends of the Earth
- United States Senate election in South Carolina, 2010
References
- ^ a b NCI Staff and Consultants NCI.org
- ^ U.S.-Russian Plan to Destroy Atom-Arms Plutonium Is Delayed New York Times, February 9, 2004
- ^ Change in Plutonium Disposal Plan Draws Complaints New York Times, May 20, 2001
- ^ U.S. Settles on Plan to Recycle Plutonium New York Times, January 23, 2002
- ^ a b Green Party Senate candidate: I offer voters an alternative Archived 2013-02-01 at archive.today SCNow.com, June 23, 2010
- ^ Activist going Green to target DeMint Archived 2010-08-21 at the Wayback Machine The State newspaper, August 8, 2010
- ^ "2010 House and Senate Campaign Finance for South Carolina". fec.gov. Retrieved October 18, 2010.[permanent dead link]. Next F.E.C. reports are due October 15, 2010.
- ^ Winthrop Poll Shows Haley Ahead and Other Opinions by S.C. Voters Archived 2012-03-07 at the Wayback Machine Winthrop Poll, October 13, 2010
- ^ Winthrop Poll Shows Haley Ahead and Other Opinions by S.C. Voters Winthrop Poll Questions and Answers. Page 2. October 13, 2010
- ^ "On Energy". Archived from the original on 2010-08-19. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
- ^ "Tom Clements for Senate". Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-08-27. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
- ^ "South Carolina Black News – Local News, State News, and National News – Official Website". scblacknews.com.
- ^ Greene to Green in SC? The Nation, September 9, 2010
- ^ "Endorsements - Politics - Sierra Club". Archived from the original on 2010-02-27. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
- ^ "FoE Action". Archived from the original on 2010-12-06. Retrieved 2010-11-01.
- ^ "SC Latino Political Action Committee Endorses Tom Clements « Tom Clements for Senate". Archived from the original on 2010-11-04. Retrieved 2010-11-01.
- ^ "Rock Hill Herald: Tom Clements for US Senate: Green Party candidate Tom Clements offers a viable alternative in this race. October 30, 2010". Archived from the original on January 6, 2011. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
- ^ "SC - Election Results". www.enr-scvotes.org.
- ^ "1954 Senatorial General Election Results - South Carolina".
- ^ "2000 Presidential General Election Results - South Carolina".
- ^ Activist going Green to target DeMint Archived 2010-08-21 at the Wayback Machine The State, August 8, 2010
External links
- Clements For Senate
- And in the Third Corner… Archived 2010-10-11 at the Wayback Machine Columbia City Paper, October 6, 2010