Bob Inglis

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Bob Inglis
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina's 4th district
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 3, 2005
Preceded by	Jim DeMint
In office January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1999
Preceded by	Liz Patterson
Succeeded by	Jim DeMint
Born	October 11, 1959 (1959-10-11) (age 49) Savannah, Georgia
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Mary Anne Inglis
Residence	Travelers Rest, South Carolina
Alma mater	Duke University, University of Virginia
Occupation	attorney
Religion	Presbyterian Church in America

Robert Durden "Bob" Inglis, Sr. (born October 11, 1959) is a United States congressman from the Republican Party. He has represented South Carolina's 4th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives since 2005. The district includes much of the Upstate region, including Greenville and Spartanburg. He previously represented the district from 1993 to 1999.

Inglis was born in Savannah, Georgia and grew up in Bluffton, South Carolina near Hilton Head Island. He attended college at Duke University, from which he earned an undergraduate degree. He went on to gain his Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia. Upon his college graduation, he worked for a number of years in private practice.

In 1992, Inglis made his first run for elected office when he won the Republican nomination for the 4th District. In the general election, he defeated three-term incumbent Democrat Liz J. Patterson in what is still considered an upset. Although the 4th had been trending Republican for some time, Patterson had deep family ties in the district (she is the daughter of former Senator Olin Johnston), and had won her first two terms under unfriendly conditions for Democrats.

Proving just how Republican this district had become, Inglis was reelected in 1994 and 1996 with no substantive opposition. He'd promised during his initial bid for Congress to serve no more than three terms (six years) in Congress. He made good on his promise when he vacated the seat in 1998 to run for the Senate against venerable Democratic incumbent Ernest Hollings. One of the more heated and covered moments of the race was when Hollings referred to Inglis as a "goddamn skunk." After losing the race, Inglis returned to work as a lawyer, practicing commercial real estate and corporate law. He was succeeded by one of his former aides, Jim DeMint.

In 2004, DeMint opted to run for Hollings' now open Senate seat instead of seeking reelection to the House. Inglis chose to take his old House seat back. He easily won a three-way Republican primary with 85 percent of the vote, all but assuring his return to Congress.

When not in Washington, Inglis currently resides in Travelers Rest, South Carolina, north of Greenville. He lives with his wife Mary Anne and has five children. He is a member of the Redeemer Presbyterian Church and is the owner of a small farm in northern Greenville County.

[edit] Issues

Inglis is a staunch advocate of a federal prohibition of online poker. He also has supported actions to aid people in war-torn Darfur. In 2006, he cosponsored H.R. 4411, the Goodlatte-Leach Internet Gambling Prohibition Act^[1] and H.R. 4777, the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act.^[2] On December 27, 2008 Inglis published an op-ed in the New York Times in support of a revenue neutral carbon tax.^[3]

It has been observed that Inglis' voting record in his second House spell has been more moderate than his first - he was one of 17 House Republicans who voted for a Democratic resolution opposing the Iraq War troop surge of 2007, and has spoken against climate change scepticism, offshore oil drilling and warrantless surveillance since returning to the House^[4].

[edit] Controversy

In October 2007, before the South Carolina 2008 Republican Presidential primary, Inglis told presidential candidate Mitt Romney, a Mormon, "[Y]ou cannot equate Mormonism with Christianity; you cannot say, 'I am a Christian just like you.' If he does that, every Baptist preacher in the South is going to have to go to the pulpit on Sunday and explain the differences.”^[5]

[edit] 2010 election

Inglis's shift to the political center has attracted a number of challengers for the 2010 Republican primary in his conservative district, setting up a potentially tough bid for renomination. Candidates include state Senator David Thomas, Spartanburg County Solicitor Trey Gowdy, college professor and former Historian of the U.S. House Christina Jeffrey, businessman Andrew Smart, and businessman Jim Lee. Greenville County Republican Chairman Steven Brown has also been thinking about entering the race. Rick Mahler, a business man from Campobello has decided to run as an Independent.

[edit] References

1. ^ Thomas (Library of Congress): HR 4411
2. ^ Thomas (Library of Congress): HR 4777
3. ^ Inglis, Bob; Arthur B. Laffer (2008-12-27). "An Emissions Plan Conservatives Could Warm To". New York Time. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/28/opinion/28inglis.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink. Retrieved on 29 December 2008. 
4. ^ Kraushaar, Josh (7 April 2009). "Inglis faces fight from the right". Politico.com. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/20974.html. Retrieved on 14 April 2009. 
5. ^ Nichols, Hans; Stern, Christopher (2007-10-30). "Romney Shouldn't Equate Mormons, Christians, Evangelicals Say". Bloomberg News. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=aU_vOirVlXhY&refer=home. Retrieved on 2008-01-30. 

[edit] External links

• U.S. Representative Bob Inglis official House site
• Bob Inglis at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Federal Election Commission — Bob Inglis campaign finance reports and data
• On the Issues — Bob Inglis issue positions and quotes
• OpenSecrets.org — Bob Inglis campaign contributions
• Project Vote Smart — Representative Bob Inglis (SC) profile
• Washington Post — Congress Votes Database: Bob Inglis voting record
• Bob Inglis for U.S. Congress official campaign site