Timothy Eugene Scott (born September 19, 1965) is an American businessman and politician serving as the senior United States senator from South Carolina, a seat he has held since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, he is the first African-American senator in the Southern United States to be directly elected, the longest-serving African-American senator in U.S. history, the first African-American to serve in both the House and Senate, and the first African-American senator to chair a full committee.
Born and raised in Charleston, Scott worked in financial services before entering politics. He served on the Charleston County Council from 1995 to 2009, was a member of the South Carolina General Assembly from 2009 to 2011, and represented in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2011 to 2013. In 2013, Governor Nikki Haley appointed Scott to the Senate after Jim DeMint resigned. Scott won the special election for the seat in 2014, and was elected to a full term in 2016 and reelected in 2022. He became the senior senator from South Carolina after Lindsey Graham died in July 2026.
In May 2023, Scott declared his candidacy for the 2024 Republican Party presidential nomination. He suspended his campaign in November due to low polling numbers. After the 2024 elections, Scott was elected chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. He also chairs the Senate Committee on Banking.
Early life and education
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, who often worked double shifts to support her family.
After his parents divorced, Scott, his mother, and his 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. 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.
Early political career Charleston County Council (1995–2009)
Elections 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. He became the first black Republican elected to any office in South Carolina since the late 19th century.
In 1996, Scott challenged Democratic State Senator Robert Ford in South Carolina's 42nd Senate district but lost 65–35%.
Scott was reelected to the Charleston County Council in 2000. In 2004, he was reelected again with 61% of the vote, defeating Democrat Elliot Summey (son of Mayor Keith Summey).
Tenure on County Council Scott served on the Charleston County Council from 1995 until 2009, becoming chairman in 2007. 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."
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. DOJ had attempted to negotiate with county officials on this issue in November 2000. Justice officials noted that at-large seats dilute the voting strength of the significant African American minority in the county, who in 2000 made up 34.5% of the population. They had been unable to elect any "candidates of their choice" for years. Whites or European Americans made up 61.9% of the county population. County officials noted that the majority of voters in 1989 had approved electing members by at-large seats in a popular referendum.
Scott, the only African American member of the county council, said of this case and the alternative of electing council members from single-member districts:
I don't like the idea of segregating everyone into smaller districts. Besides, the Justice Department assumes that the only way for African-Americans to have representation is to elect an African-American, and the same for whites. Obviously, my constituents don't think that's true.
The Department of Justice alleged that the issue was not a question of ethnicity, stating that voters in black precincts in the county had rejected Scott as a candidate for the council. The lawsuit noted that because of the white majority, "white bloc voting usually results in the defeat of candidates who are preferred by black voters." The Department added that blacks live in compact areas of the county and could be a majority in three districts if the county seats were apportioned as nine single-member districts.
The Department of Justice won the case. A new districting plan replaced the at-large method of electing the Charleston City Council. The federal court found that the former method violated the Voting Rights Act, following a lawsuit brought by the Justice Department. Scott was then elected to the Charleston County Council by District 3, rather than by the whole county.
Committee assignments Economic Development Committee (Chair)
South Carolina House of Representatives (2009–2011)
Elections In 2008, incumbent Republican State Representative Tom Dantzler decided to retire. With support from advisors such as Nicolas Muzin,JTA Canadian-born Orthodox Jew Nick Muzin helps boost black GOP Sen. Tim Scott to prominence, February 12, 2013 Scott ran for his seat in District 117 of the South Carolina House of Representatives and won the Republican primary with 53% of the vote, defeating Bill Crosby and Wheeler Tillman. He won the general election unopposed, becoming the first Republican African-American State Representative in South Carolina in more than 100 years.
Tenure in state legislature Scott supported South Carolina's right-to-work laws and argued that Boeing chose South Carolina as a site for manufacturing for that reason.
In South Carolina Club for Growth's 2009–2010 scorecard, Scott earned a B and a score of 80 out of 100. The South Carolina Association of Taxpayers praised his "diligent, principled and courageous stands against higher taxes."
Committee assignments Judiciary Labor, Commerce and Industry Ways and Means
U.S. House of Representatives (2011–2013)
Elections
2010
Scott entered the election for lieutenant governor but switched to run for South Carolina's 1st congressional district after Republican incumbent Henry Brown announced his retirement. The 1st district is based in Charleston and includes approximately the northern 3/4 of the state's coastline (except for Beaufort and Hilton Head Island, which were included in the 2nd District after redistricting).MacDougall, David. Charleston Post and Courier. January 16, 2010
Scott finished first in the nine-candidate June 8 Republican primary, receiving a plurality of 32% of the vote. Fellow Charleston County Councilman Paul Thurmond was second with 16%. Carroll A. Campbell III, the son of former Governor Carroll A. Campbell Jr., was third with 14%.Behre, Robert. Thurmond, Scott head for runoff, Charleston Post and Courier, June 9, 2010 Charleston County School Board member Larry Kobrovsky ranked fourth with 11%. Five other candidates had single-digit percentages.
A runoff was held on June 22 between Scott and Thurmond. Scott was endorsed by the Club for Growth,Hamby, Peter. Historical Overtones in SC House Race, CNN, June 9, 2010 various Tea Party movement groups, former Alaska governor and vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, Republican House Whip Eric Cantor,Schroeder, Robert.Fiscal conservatives try to outdo each other in S. Carolina, Health care, spending among top issues for Republicans in runoffs, Marketwatch, June 18, 2010 former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, and South Carolina senator Jim DeMint. He defeated Thurmond 68–32% and won every county in the district.O'Connor, Patrick.Tim Scott, Black Republican, Nominated for Congress Seat in South Carolina, Bloomberg, June 22, 2010Breaking News: Tim Scott wins GOP nomination for First Congressional District , WCBD-TV, June 22, 2010
According to the Associated Press, Scott "swamped his opponents in fundraising, spending almost $725,000 during the election cycle to less than $20,000 for his November opponents". He won the general election against Democratic nominee Ben Frasier 65–29%. With this election, Scott and Allen West of Florida became the first African-American Republicans in Congress since J. C. Watts retired in 2003. Scott also became the first African-American Republican elected to Congress from South Carolina in 114 years.
2012
Scott was unopposed in the primary and won the general election against Democratic nominee Bobbie Rose, 62–36%.
Tenure as congressman
Scott declined to join the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). He recognized the efforts of the CBC but said "My campaign was never about race."
In March 2011, Scott co-sponsored a welfare reform bill that the liberal blog ThinkProgress said would terminate food stamps to families when a family member participates in a labor strike; the Republican Study Committee denied that charge. He introduced legislation in July 2011 so that the National Labor Relations Board could not order "any employer to relocate, shut down, or transfer employment under any circumstance". Updated Mar 5, 2018. The NLRB had recently opposed the relocation of a Boeing production facility from Washington state to South Carolina.