Politics

Tim Scott: first black Republican elected to Congress from the South since Reconstruction

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South Carolina Republican Tim Scott made history Tuesday night by becoming the first African-American Republican to be elected to Congress from the Deep South since Reconstruction and the first African-American Republican congressman since J.C. Watts in 2003.

Elected to South Carolina’s First District — a coastal area running from Charleston to Myrtle Beach — Scott is a veritable Tea Party representative, not only receiving endorsements from Sarah Palin and Tea Party activists, but also telling The Daily Caller in July that he was more inclined to join the Tea Party Caucus than the Congressional Black Caucus.

Running on a platform of fiscal restraint, repeal of the health care law, low taxes, and smaller government, Scott’s message won the day.

“Voters are more interested in your issues than in any other characteristic,” Scott told a Newsweek in June.

“Nonetheless, the ability of South Carolina’s white Republicans to get behind a black candidate, even a conservative one, may strike some political observers as remarkable, particularly because South Carolina is arguably the most unlikely of all Southern states to host such a racial breakthrough,” wrote Newsweek’s Ben Adler.

Despite the incredulity of Newsweek, the district where the Civil War commenced elected one of the 14 black Republicans seeking House seats this year.