S.C.: Scott Wins, Likely To Make HistoryState Rep. Tim Scott (R) appears well on his way to becoming the first black Republican to serve in Congress since former Rep. J.C. Watts (Okla.) left in 2002.
With over 85 percent reporting the Associated Press called the GOP runoff in South Carolina's 1st district for Scott. He lead Charleston County Councilman Paul Thurmond 69 percent to 31 percent.
Scott will now be favored to win the heavily Republican Charleston-based district in November and national Republicans are openly excited about the prospect of adding some diversity to the party's Congressional delegation.
Scott, dropped his lieutenant governors bid earlier this year to run in the 1st district after Rep. Henry Brown (R) announced his plans to retire at the end of his term.
In a race in which he was running against the son of legendary GOP Sen. Strom Thurmond (R) and the son of former South Carolina Gov. Carroll Campbell he entered the contest with a bit of name identification disadvantage. But Scott earned an early endorsement from the powerful anti-tax group the Club for Growth and soon became a favorite of national party leaders including House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (Va.) and National Republican Congressional Committee Vice Chairman Kevin McCarthy (Calif.).
Scott came in first in the nine-way primary in the 1st district on June 8 by finishing 16 percent ahead of Thurmond.
In the short sprint to the runoff Thurmond was endorsed by a handful of the other primary candidates, including third-place finisher Carroll Campbell III. But Scott's list of big name endorsements quickly expanded.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) announced his endorsement of Scott as did Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R).
http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/eyeon2010/2010/06/sc-scott-likely-to-make-histor.html
