Grassroots candidate Tim Scott won the Republican nomination for Congress in a conservative South Carolina district putting him in the driver’s seat to become the first black Republican in Congress from the South since Reconstruction.
Scott’s victory over GOP establishment candidate Paul Thurmond, son of the late Senator Strom Thurmond, signals a shift away from the Party’s old guard establishment in the South. Scott was endorsed by former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and the anti-tax Club for Growth.
Scott will run against perennial candidate Ben Frasier in a district that has not sent a Democrat to Congress since 1978 and voted for Senator John McCain over Brother O 56%-42%.
Tim Scott wins nomination to become first black Republican congressman since 2003
By Kathy Kiely
Tim Scott is on track to become the first black Republican in Congress since 2003 — and the first from the South since Reconstruction — after beating one of the biggest names in South Carolina politics to win a Republican congressional nomination.
It was a victory for conservative Republican insurgents and a sign of the changing of the guard in the South: Scott, a member of the South Carolina state House, defeated Paul Thurmond, son of the late Sen. Strom Thurmond, who retired from the Senate at age 100 in 2003. Thurmond ran for president in 1948 on a segregationist platform.
A member of the Charleston County Council, the younger Thurmond had the backing of much of South Carolina’s GOP establishment. Two Republicans who represented the coastal Carolina district in Congress, Arthur Ravenel and Thomas Hartnett, endorsed him. So did several of the GOP hopefuls whom he and Scott eliminated in the primary election earlier this month. Among those throwing their support to Thurmond was another South Carolina legacy: Carroll Campbell, namesake son of a former governor.
Scott had national conservative support. Sarah Palin endorsed him, as did the anti-tax Club for Growth.
In an interview with USA TODAY earlier this week, Scott said President Obama inspired him in a negative sense: the fiscally conservative lawmaker said he considers the president’s health care plan “a step toward socialism.”
Scott will face Democratic nominee Ben Frasier, a perennial candidate who does not appear to have a campaign website or any campaign finance records on file with the Federal Election Commission
The district has not sent a Democrat to Congress since 1978; two years ago, it voted for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the Republican presidential nominee, over President Obama, 56%-42%.
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