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'''James Warren DeMint''' (born September 2, 1951) has been a [[U.S. Senator]] from [[South Carolina]] since 2005. He had previously represented [[South Carolina's 4th congressional district]] from 1999 to 2005. He is a member of the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]]<ref>[http://www.nationaljournal.com/2008voteratings?person=400105 "2008 Vote Ratings"], ''National Journal''</ref>. |
'''James Warren DeMint''' (born September 2, 1951) has been a [[U.S. Senator]] from [[South Carolina]] since 2005. He had previously represented [[South Carolina's 4th congressional district]] from 1999 to 2005. He is a member of the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]]<ref>[http://www.nationaljournal.com/2008voteratings?person=400105 "2008 Vote Ratings"], ''National Journal''</ref>. |
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Revision as of 22:35, 21 July 2009
Jim DeMint | |
|---|---|
 | |
| United States Senator from South Carolina | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2005 Serving with Lindsey Graham | |
| Preceded by | Ernest Hollings |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina's 4th district | |
| In office January 6, 1999 – January 3, 2005 | |
| Preceded by | Bob Inglis |
| Succeeded by | Bob Inglis |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Debbie DeMint |
| Residence(s) | Greenville, South Carolina |
| Alma mater | University of Tennessee |
| Occupation | marketing consultant |
James Warren DeMint (born September 2, 1951) has been a U.S. Senator from South Carolina since 2005. He had previously represented South Carolina's 4th congressional district from 1999 to 2005. He is a member of the Republican Party[1].
Early life, education, and early career
DeMint was born in Greenville, South Carolina, one of four children. DeMint's parents, Tom Eugene DeMint and the former Betty W. (Rawlings) Batson,[2] divorced when he was five. His mother operated a dance studio. DeMint was educated at the Christ Church Episcopal School, Greenville, South Carolina and Wade Hampton High School in Greenville. He received a bachelor's degree from the University of Tennessee and an M.B.A. from Clemson University.
Prior to entering politics, DeMint worked in the field of market research. In 1983, he founded his own research firm, the DeMint Group. He was president of this corporation until 1998.
DeMint married his high school sweetheart, Debbie Henderson, on September 1, 1973; the couple has four children.
U.S. House of Representatives
In 1998, Fourth District Congressman Bob Inglis kept his promise to serve only three terms, by running against Senator Fritz Hollings.
DeMint won the Republican primary for the district, which includes Greenville and Spartanburg. He then went on to win the general election in November. The district is considered the most Republican in the state, and he did not face a serious or well-funded Democratic opponent in 1998 or in his two re-election campaigns in 2000 and 2002.
U.S. Senate
Committee assignments
- Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
- Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
- Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security (Ranking Member)
- Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet
- Subcommittee on Competitiveness, Innovation, and Export Promotion
- Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance
- Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety and Security
- Committee on Foreign Relations
- Joint Economic Committee
Political positions and actions
DeMint was ranked by National Journal as the most conservative United States Senator in their March, 2007 conservative/liberal rankings,[3] and again in 2008.[4]
Senator DeMint's main work has been opposing the increase of Federal government spending, both under the Bush and Obama Administrations. He was opposed to federal bailouts for banks and other corporations.
He has been a consistent supporter of school sponsored prayer and has introduced legislation that would allow schools to display banners reading God Bless America.[5]
DeMint favors banning all forms of abortion.
DeMint endorsed Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney.
For his stances on budgetary issues, DeMint has been strongly supported by the fiscally conservative political group Club for Growth.
In the Senate, DeMint introduced a bill that would address the decline in IPOs in the U.S. by clarifying the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate accountability legislation; he also introduced a hybrid tax reform plan that would attempt to simplify the tax code.
On the issue of immigration, DeMint favors requiring all illegal immigrants currently in the United States to return to their home countries to apply for legal reinstatement. He is also against the Guest Worker program and is in favor of establishing English as the country's official language.
On February 6, 2008 Jim DeMint was joined by Saxby Chambliss, Tom Coburn, John Cornyn, James Inhofe, and David Vitter in the Senate to introduce the Semper Fi Act of 2008 which would strip federal funding from Berkeley, California in response to the Berkeley Marine Corps Recruiting Center controversy.[6] The bill would have stripped $2.1 million in earmarks for the city and the University of California, Berkeley and would have instead directed the funds to the Marine Corps Recruiting Fund. His actions were reprimanded by both the House and Senate leadership as divisive and unnecessary. His bill was defeated by a 74-25 vote.
In 2009, DeMint introduced an amendment to a multi-billion dollar economic stimulus bill that would have prohibited lawmakers from using any percentage of transportation funds on bicycle, walking, or wilderness trails. [7] Additionally, DeMint opposed the whole bill.
DeMint was one of two Senators, along with David Vitter, to vote against Hillary Clinton's confirmation to become the United States Secretary of State.
DeMint was one of the first members of Congress to publicly back the 2009 Honduran coup d'état, a coup that was denounced by President Barack Obama, the Organization of American States and the United Nations General Assembly. [8]
In 2009, Senator DeMint authored a book entitled "Saving Freedom: We Can Stop America's Slide into Socialism" (Fidelis, Nashville, 2009).
Electoral history
2004 election
DeMint declared his candidacy for the Senate on December 12, 2002, after Hollings announced that he would retire after the 2004 elections. DeMint was supposedly the White House's preferred candidate in the Republican primary. Some thought DeMint was at a disadvantage since South Carolina had never elected two senators from the same region of the state. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina's senior senator, was also from the Upstate (and had represented the neighboring 3rd District from 1995 to 2003).
In the Republican primary on June 8, 2004 DeMint placed a distant second, 18 percentage points behind former governor David Beasley. DeMint won the runoff handily, however.
DeMint then faced Democratic state education superintendent Inez Tenenbaum in the November general election. DeMint led Tenenbaum through much of the campaign and ultimately defeated her by 9.6 percentage points. DeMint's win meant that South Carolina was represented by two Republican Senators for the first time since Reconstruction, when Thomas J. Robertson and John J. Patterson served together as Senators.
DeMint stirred controversy during debates with Tenenbaum when he stated his belief that openly gay people should not be allowed to teach in public schools. When questioned by reporters, DeMint also stated that single mothers who live with their boyfriends should similarly be excluded from being educators. He later apologized for making the remarks without specifically retracting their substantive claims, saying they were "distracting from the main issues of the debate." He also noted that these were opinions based on his personal values, not issues he would or could deal with as a member of Congress.[9]
2004 South Carolina United States Senatorial Election
| Jim DeMint (R) 53.7% |
| Inez Tenenbaum (D) 44.1% |
| Patrick Tyndall (Constitution) 0.8% |
| Rebekah Sutherland (Libertarian) 0.7% |
| Tee Ferguson (United Citizens Party) 0.4% |
| Efia Nwangaza (Green) 0.3% |
Footnotes
- ^ "2008 Vote Ratings", National Journal
- ^ demint
- ^ Political Arithmetik: National Journal 2006 Liberal/Conservative Scores
- ^ NATIONAL JOURNAL: 2007 Vote Ratings (03/07/2007)
- ^ http://www.ontheissues.org/senate/jim_demint.htm
- ^ Oakley, Doug (2008-02-07). "Lawmakers aim to punish Berkeley over anti-Marines stance". San Jose Mercury News. MediaNews Group. Retrieved 2008-02-07.
{{cite web}}: More than one of|author=and|last=specified (help) - ^ Voiland, Adam, "Senator DeMint's Pro-Obesity Legislation", "DC Bicycle Transportation Examiner" March 1, 2009
- ^ http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2009/07/02/sen-demint-supports-honduran-coup/
- ^ Dan Hoover, "DeMint apologizes after remarks on gays", Greenville News, October 6, 2004
External links
- United States Senator James W DeMint official Senate site
- Jim DeMint for US Senator official campaign site
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
- Profile at Vote Smart
- SourceWatch Congresspedia — Jim DeMint profile
- Open Secrets - Jim Demint
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