Lee Bright

Lee Bright (born March 21, 1970) is an American politician who served as the South Carolina State Senator from the 12th district from 2009 to 2017.

A member of the Republican Party, his district included Spartanburg County and Greenville County.

Bright graduated from Dorman High School in 1988.

Bright was elected to the Spartanburg School District Six Board in 1999, and served on the board until his election to the South Carolina legislature.

As a school board member, Bright called for teaching creationism in school science classes, explaining, "they're teaching evolution right now in school, and it's only a theory."

Bright contested the District 12 South Carolina Senate seat held by first-term incumbent John D. Hawkins in 2004, losing in a tight race by less than 50 votes.

In 2005, Bright was recognized with a "Friend of the Taxpayer" award from Citizens for Efficient Government.

After serving as a trucking brokerage salesman for many years, Bright started his own trucking business, On Time, LLC.

Bright backed Mark Sanford in his 2006 race for Governor of South Carolina.

The company grew to employ over 100 people but was unable to recover after the Great Recession of 2008.

In 2008, Bright successfully challenged for the District 12 Senate seat.

Hawkins chose not to seek reelection, leaving Bright to contest State Representative Scott Talley for the Republican nomination, which he ultimately won, along with the general election.

Bright described himself as troubled by the 2009 revelation that Sanford had flown to Argentina to meet with his mistress, but stopped short of joining calls for the governor's resignation.

Governor Nikki Haley endorsed Bright over Hawkins, a move some claimed was in response to Hawkins's endorsement of Haley's 2010 election rival, Democrat Vincent Sheheen.

Bright was, ultimately, handily reelected winning every precinct in his district and 65% of the primary vote.

He went on to win the general election as well.

In 2011 Bright cast the lone "no" vote in the South Carolina senate against a measure that would allow early voting, explaining "I think people ought to vote on Election Day."

Along with Democrat Vincent Sheheen, Bright helped to write an ethics reform package that would require state legislators to wait eight years after leaving office before they could lobby their peers.

In 2011, Bright introduced S.500 to study the solvency of money and the Federal Reserve.

In advocating his proposal, Bright quipped "If at first you don't secede, try again."

Bright has also been an outspoken critic of government spending, and was designated as one of four "taxpayer heroes in the Senate" by the South Carolina chapter of the Club for Growth for the legislative session of 2011–2012.

The Club for Growth is a PAC that describes themselves as "fiscally conservative" and has been opposed by Republicans Haley Barbour and Karl Rove.

Bright also received the Friend of Taxpayer Award from the Spartanburg County Taxpayers Association.

He had the highest rating of the Palmetto Liberty PAC on its legislative scorecard, and was unanimously endorsed by The Republican Liberty Caucus of South Carolina

The 2012 election marked a replay of 2004 as Hawkins came out of retirement to challenge Bright in a campaign noted for its intensity.

In the 2012 Republican presidential primaries, Bright supported Michele Bachmann and was her South Carolina campaign chair.

After Bachmann withdrew from the race, Bright switched his endorsement to Ron Paul.

Bright announced on August 13, 2013, that he would seek his party's nomination for United States Senate against incumbent Republican Lindsey Graham.

Bright placed a distant second with 15.43% of the vote.

In April 2013, Bright introduced a bill attempting to "require doctors performing abortions to have board certification in obstetrics and gynecology. Doctors performing abortions in outpatient settings also would be required to have staff privileges at a local hospital."

Pro-Choice proponents argued that the legislation would end all abortions in South Carolina and the bill was defeated in subcommittee.

In May 2013, Bright was one of four senators who voted against a bill that would reduce government oversight of Clemson University.

Bright unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate in 2014 and U.S. House of Representatives in 2018.

Lee Bright was raised in Pauline, South Carolina.

Bright has since been employed in a number of salesmen roles and in 2014 he started The Bright Agency, an independent insurance agency.

Bright lost his 2016 re-election bid in a primary runoff to former State Representative Talley.

Haley reversed herself and endorsed Bright's opponent that year.

Bright ran in the 2018 Republican primary to replace retiring Republican incumbent Trey Gowdy in South Carolina's 4th congressional district.

He finished first in the June 12, 2018, primary with 25% of the vote, but two weeks later lost the primary runoff election to William Timmons on June 26, 2018.

Bright has been a strong opponent of abortion and has been a sponsor of the "Life Begins at Conception Act" for three years.