Tim Scott

Timothy Eugene Scott (born September 19, 1965) is an American businessman and politician serving as the junior United States senator from South Carolina since 2013.

A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a Charleston city councilor, a state representative, and a U.S. Representative.

He also worked in financial services before entering politics.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Scott later transferred to Charleston Southern University, where he graduated in 1988 with a Bachelor of Science degree in political science.

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.

Scott served on the Charleston County Council from 1995 to 2009.

Scott ran in a February 1995 special election for the Charleston County Council at-large seat vacated by Keith Summey, who had resigned upon being elected mayor of North Charleston.

Scott won the seat as a Republican, receiving nearly 80% of the vote in the white-majority district.

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

In 1996, Scott challenged Democratic State Senator Robert Ford in South Carolina's 42nd Senate district but lost 65–35%.

In 1997, he supported posting the Ten Commandments outside the council chambers, saying it would remind members of the absolute rules they should follow.

The county council unanimously approved the display, and Scott nailed a 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."

Scott was reelected to the Charleston County Council in 2000.

In January 2001, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Charleston County, South Carolina for racial discrimination under the Voting Rights Act, because its council seats were based on at-large elections, meaning that the whole county voted to fill each seat.

In 2004, he was reelected again with 61% of the vote, defeating Democrat Elliot Summey (son of Mayor Keith Summey).

He then served in the South Carolina General Assembly from 2009 to 2011, and represented SC'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.

Scott was a candidate in the 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries, forming an exploratory committee on April 13, 2023.

He filed Federal Election Commission paperwork to run for president on May 19, and formally declared his candidacy three days later.

Scott suspended his campaign on November 12 of that year due to low poll numbers.

He became the first black Republican elected to any office in South Carolina since the late 19th century.