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Jim DeMint

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Jim DeMint
Image of Jim DeMint
Prior offices
Representative U. S. House of Representatives

U.S. Senate South Carolina
Successor: Tim Scott

Education

Bachelor's

University of Tennessee, 1973

Graduate

Clemson University, 1981

Personal
Religion
Christian: Presbyterian
Contact

Jim DeMint (b. September 2, 1951, in Greenville, SC) was a Republican member of the U.S. Senate from the state of South Carolina. DeMint served in the Senate from 2005-2013. On December 6, 2012, DeMint announced he would leave the U.S. Senate to become president of the Heritage Foundation, starting in January 2013. Governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley (R) appointed Tim Scott to fill the remainder of DeMint's term.[1][2] DeMint left the Heritage Foundation in early 2017. In June 2017, he joined Citizens for Self-Governance as a senior advisor.

Based on an analysis of bill sponsorship by GovTrack, DeMint was a "far-right Republican."[3]

Career

Below is an abbreviated outline of DeMint's academic, professional, and political career:[4]

  • 1973: Received his B.S. from University of Tennessee
  • 1981: Received his M.B.A. from Clemson University, Clemson, S.C.
  • 1999-2005: Served as a Republican in the U.S. Congress
  • 2005-2013: U.S. Senator from South Carolina
  • 2013-2017: Heritage Foundation
  • 2017-present: Citizens for Self-Governance

Committee assignments

U.S. Senate

2011-2012

Issues

Fiscal Cliff

Neutral/Abstain DeMint did not cast a vote regarding the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. The bill was passed in the Senate by an 89 - 8 vote on January 1, 2013.[5]

Elections

2010

On November 2, 2010, DeMint won re-election to the United States Senate. He defeated Alvin M. Greene and Tom Clements in the general election.[6]

U.S. Senate, South Carolina General Election, 2010
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngJim DeMint Incumbent 62.5% 810,771
     Democratic Alvin M. Greene 28.1% 364,598
     Green Tom Clements 9.4% 121,472
Total Votes 1,296,841

Campaign finance summary

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Analysis

Congressional staff salaries

See also: Staff salaries of United States Senators and Representatives

The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. DeMint paid his congressional staff a total of $2,672,275 in 2011. He ranked 10th on the list of the highest paid Republican senatorial staff salaries and ranked 64th overall of the lowest paid senatorial staff salaries in 2011. Overall, South Carolina ranked 29th in average salary for senatorial staff. The average U.S. Senate congressional staff was paid $2,529,141.70 in fiscal year 2011.[7]

Net worth

See also: Changes in Net Worth of U.S. Senators and Representatives (Personal Gain Index) and Net worth of United States Senators and Representatives

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org, DeMint's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $16,002 and $65,000. That averages to $40,501, which is lower than the average net worth of Republican senators in 2010 of $7,054,258.[8]

National Journal vote ratings

2011

See also: National Journal vote ratings

Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted in the previous year. DeMint ranked 10th in the conservative rankings in 2011.[9]

Political positions

Voting with party

Jim DeMint voted with the Republican Party 80.0 of the time, which ranked 42 among the 47 Senate Republican members as of November 2011.[10]

Recent news

This section links to a Google news search for the term Jim + DeMint + South Carolina + Senate


Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.

Email editor@ballotpedia.org to notify us of updates to this biography.

DeMint and his wife, Debbie, have four children.

External links

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by
Ernest Hollings
U.S. Senate - South Carolina
2005-2013
Succeeded by
Tim Scott


Senators
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
Republican Party (8)
Democratic Party (1)