Tim Scott

It's been a roller coaster of a special election in South Carolina's First Congressional District, and about 24 hours before the polls close, the race for the House seat once held by Senator Tim Scott looks to be a close one.

When Republican senator Tim Scott addresses an audience, he paces back and forth on the stage. He doesn’t use notes or look at a teleprompter. He punctuates with his hands, pointing his index finger outward or turning his palms upward. He looks and sounds like a revivalist preacher or a motivational speaker. When he asks his audience a question, he expects to hear an answer.

“You want to listen to a quick story?” he asked the crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference last month. They did, so he told one.

The race to succeed Tim Scott in South Carolina's First Congressional District begins with a new television ad from GOP candidate Teddy Turner, the son of billionaire CNN founder (and proud liberal) Ted Turner.

Former South Carolina governor and congressman Mark Sanford announced his candidacy for the state's First Congressional District Wednesday. Sanford, who served as that district's House member from 1995 to 2001 and later as governor of South Carolina from 2003 to 2011, is vying for the Republican nomination to replace former congressman Tim Scott, who was appointed last month to the U.S. Senate.

Mark Sanford, the former congressman and governor of South Carolina, will announce he is running for his old House seat Wednesday. Jim Geraghty at National Review confirms the news in an interview with Sanford:

Mark Sanford, the former governor of South Carolina, will run for the House of Representatives, sources close to Sanford confirm. He will try to win election to the seat formerly held by Tim Scott. 

Sanford, a Republican who held the House seat himself from 1995 to 2001, will announce his intention to run early next week, ahead of the January 18 filing deadline. The special election to succeed Scott, who was appointed to the Senate by Governor Nikki Haley last month, will take place on May 7, with a GOP primary being held on March 19.

The Scrapbook did not expect that the New York Times would express much joy at the appointment of Rep. Tim Scott of South Carolina to the Senate seat vacated by Jim DeMint. Mr. DeMint is a conservative Republican, Mr. Scott is a conservative Republican, and the governor who anointed Scott, Nikki Haley, is a conservative Republican, too. 

The Scrapbook did not expect that the New York Times would express much joy at the appointment of Rep. Tim Scott of South Carolina to the Senate seat vacated by Jim DeMint. Mr. DeMint is a conservative Republican, Mr. Scott is a conservative Republican, and the governor who anointed Scott, Nikki Haley, is a conservative Republican, too. 

The New York Times has greeted the appointment of South Carolina congressman Tim Scott to succeed fellow Republican Jim DeMint in the Senate with an op-ed decrying the selection--and Scott himself--as "token."

The son of mogul Ted Turner, Teddy Turner, announced his intention this evening to run for the House seat being vacated by Tim Scott, who today was appointed to fill the remainder of Jim DeMint's Senate term. The House seat represents part of South Carolina. 

Teddy Turner, unlike his liberal father, is a Republican. 

Here's the full press release, with the announcement:

Tim Scott received a call from Governor Nikki Haley Sunday night. “Do you want to be a U.S. senator?” Haley asked.

Scott, a Republican congressman from Charleston, says he doesn't remember anything else from the conversation, but within 18 hours, he was being introduced as the Palmetto State’s next senator. 

Tim Scott will be the next U.S. Senator from South Carolina. The first-term Republican congressman from Charleston, who was just elected to a second term, was appointed to the seat being vacated by fellow Republican Jim DeMint. South Carolina governor Nikki Haley made the announcement in Columbia Monday afternoon, flanked by Scott, DeMint, and other members of South Carolina's congressional delegation, including Senator Lindsey Graham.