Tagged: U.S. Senate

Scott is the only black Republican in Congress. The decision announced Monday makes him the South's first black Republican senator since Reconstruction and only the fourth black Republican ever in the U.S. Senate. 

He takes over for Jim DeMint, who announced earlier this month he would forgo the remaining four years of this term to take the helm of The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. His resignation takes effect Jan. 1. 

Since Jim DeMint’s surprise announcement that he was leaving office to head the Heritage Foundation, many observers have noted that one of the most conservative voices is leaving the U.S. Senate.

In fact, Gov. Nikki Haley indicated that she would be appointing “a person who has the same philosophy of government that Jim DeMint and I share.”