Jim DeMint

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U.S. Senator

Jim DeMint

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R-SC

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Positions
Leadership: No leadership position
Committees: Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
(subcommittees and past assignments)

Candidates for the SC-Senate Class III Seat:
(Next election: 2 November 2010)

Confirmed: None so far
Considering: None so far
Rumored: None so far
Potential: None so far
Dropped-out: None so far
(more info and editing for the SC-Senate Class III Seat)
On the Web
Official website


James Warren "Jim" DeMint is the Junior Senator for the state of South Carolina. He is a Republican and was first elected in 2004.

Contents

Record and controversies

Congressional scorecards

Click through the score to see the records of other members of Congress and full descriptions of the individual votes.

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Organization 2007 Scorecard
Score - Agree ratio 		2008 Scorecard
Score - Agree ratio
American Civil Liberties Union not avail. not avail.
American Conservative Union 100 - 25/25 not avail.
AFSCME 0 - 0/7 not avail.
Americans for Democratic Action 0 - 0/20 0 - 0/20
Club for Growth not avail. not avail.
Drum Major Institute not avail. not avail.
Family Research Council 100 - 9/9 100 - 9/9
Information Technology Industry Council 25 - 1/5 25 - 1/5
League of Conservation Voters not avail. 9 - 1/11
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People not avail. not avail.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce 55 - 6/11 not avail.


Iraq War

DeMint voted for the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 that started the Iraq War.[1]

For more information see the chart of U.S. House of Representatives votes on the Iraq War.

Environmental record

For more information on environmental legislation, see the Energy and Environment Policy Portal

Block of the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2007

On June 28, 2007, Sen. DeMint blocked a deal between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) that would have started up long-stalled conference proceedings on the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2007. DeMint made an objection to the agreement by phone to the Senate floor, minutes after McConnell had said Republicans would drop their objections to naming conferees. DeMint argued that he would not let the bill proceed until certain earmark reforms were accepted. He stated, "We will not have earmark reform during this year’s appropriations process. That is why this is being done," DeMint charged on the floor, adding later that "the only reason to go to conference with [the rules] in is to take them out." Democrats responded, Harry Reid commenting, "Here we are, seconds from going to conference and a call comes in to the Republican cloak room. I understand the Minority Leader has a responsibility to take that ... but the eyes of the nation are on us... to not let us go to conference on some petty issue that my friend has raised is really bad.”

Main article: Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2007

National security and foreign policy

In early March 2007, the Senate began debate on a security bill (S.4) similar to the one passed by the House. The Senate legislation would drop House-passed provisions that would require that all containers on U.S.-bound vessels be screened in foreign ports for radiation, and all cargo loaded onto U.S. airliners be screened for explosives. Like the House version, the Senate bill contained a provision allowing airport screeners (employees of the Transportation Security Administration) to unionize. The Bush administration declared that the president would veto the bill if the provision was included in any bill which reached his desk. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff echoed Bush’s opposition, arguing that unionization would impede the department’s quick response to possible threats. Sen. DeMint promised to help uphold a veto, telling Bush “If the final bill contains such a provision, forcing you to veto it, we pledge to sustain your veto.”

Main article: Congressional efforts to implement recommendations of the 9/11 commission

Biography

DeMint was born September 2, 1951 in Greenville, South Carolina. He was educated at Wade Hampton High School in Greenville, the University of Tennessee and Clemson University. He owned a market research firm in Greenville.

DeMint won the Republican primary for the 4th district in 1998, when Fourth District Congressman Bob Inglis decided to honor a promise to serve only three terms in the House and run against Senator Fritz Hollings. DeMint easily won election in November. The district is considered the most Republican in the state, and he never faced serious or well-funded opposition.

DeMint declared his candidacy for the Senate on December 12, 2002 after Hollings decided to retire after the 2004 elections. DeMint placed a distant second in that primary on June 8, 2004, 18 points behind former South Carolina governor David Beasley. However, he won a convincing victory in the runoff, and faced Democratic state education superintendent Inez Tenenbaum in November. The state's strong support for George W. Bush gave DeMint enough of a push to defeat her by 9.6 percentage points in November.

DeMint favors eliminating the Internal Revenue Service and Federal income tax. Additionally, while in Congress he sponsored legislation that would replace the current system with a 23% national sales tax on all goods and services. He claimed he had signed onto the legislation "to advance the debate" on tax reform, and that he did not specifically favor that version of reform over others.

DeMint also stirred controversy during debates with Tenenbaum when he stated his belief that openly gay people should not be allowed to teach in public schools. [1] 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. He also favors banning all forms of abortion.[2] [3]

Money in politics

This section contains links to – and feeds from – money in politics databases. For specific controversies, see this article's record and controversies section.

Top Contributors to during the 2008 Election Cycle
DonorAmount (US Dollars)
Club for Growth$ 157,067
Scana Corp$ 49,475
Murray Energy$ 29,043
Slatecard.com$ 26,000
Nelson, Mullins et al$ 23,250
Koch Industries$ 22,000
BB&T Corp$ 18,300
UBS AG$ 16,700
Edens & Avant$ 16,550
Norfolk Southern$ 15,000
Source: The Center for Responsive Politics' www.OpenSecrets.org site.
Note: Contributions are not from the organizations themselves, but are rather from
the organization's PAC, employees or owners. Totals include subsidiaries and affiliates.
Links to more campaign contribution information for Jim DeMint
from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org site.
Fundraising profile: 2008 election cycle Career totals
Top contributors by organization/corporation: 2008 election cycle Career totals
Top contributors by industry: 2008 election cycle Career totals


Committees and Affiliations

Committees

Committees in the 110th Congress (2007-2008)

Committee assignments in the 109th Congress (2005-2006)

More Background Data

Wikipedia also has an article on Jim DeMint. This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the GFDL.

Contact

DC office
  • 167 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510
    Ph: 202-224-6121 Fax: 202-228-5143
    Webform email
District offices
  • 105 North Spring Street, Suite 109 Greenville, SC 29601
    Ph: 864-233-5366 Fax: (none entered)
  • 112 Customs House 200 East Bay Street Charleston, SC 29401
    Ph: 843-727-4525 Fax: (none entered)
  • 1901 Main Street, Suite 1475 Columbia, SC 29201
    Ph: 803-771-6112 Fax: (none entered)
On the Web
Campaign office
  • No campaign website entered.
  • No campaign webform email entered.
  • No campaign office information entered.

Campaign contact information

DC Office:
340 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-4002
Phone: 202-224-6121
Fax: 202-228-5143
Web Email
Website

District Office- Greenville:
105 North Spring Street, Suite 109
Greenville, SC 29601
Phone: 864-233-5366
Fax: 864-271-8901

District Office- Charleston:
112 Customs House
200 East Bay Street
Charleston, SC 29401
Phone: 843-727-4525
Fax: 843-722-4923

District Office- Columbia:
1901 Main Street, Suite 1475
Columbia, SC 29201
Phone: 803-771-6112
Fax: 803-771-6455

Twitter

Jim DeMint posts on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jimdemint/

Latest posts:

See all the members of Congress who Twitter

Articles and resources

Resources

Local blogs and discussion sites

Articles

Articles By DeMint

General Articles


Semantic data (Edit data)

Retrieved from "http://www.opencongress.org/wiki/Jim_DeMint"
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