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South Carolina Just Elected The First Black Southern Senator Since Reconstruction

Image Creditby Gannett

Tim Scott just became the first African-American elected to the Senate from the South since Reconstruction

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Congratulations to Sen. Tim Scott, who just became the first African-American to be elected to the U.S. Senate from the South since Reconstruction. Although he was running as an incumbent, he was not initially elected to the position. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley appointed him to replace former Sen. Jim DeMint when DeMint stepped down to become president of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. Scott was officially sworn in as a senator on January 2, 2013.

Prior to being appointed and then elected to the U.S. Senate, Scott served as a congressman from South Carolina. He served one term in the U.S. House before being appointed to the Senate. In his House race during the 2010 election cycle, Scott won by more than 35 percentage points and won every single county in his district.

Scott is a Republican.