Harvey Smith Peeler Jr. (born September 8, 1948) is an American

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

.South Carolina Senate biography
/ref>Official website
/ref> He is a member of the

South Carolina Senate The South Carolina Senate is the upper house of the South Carolina General Assembly, the lower house being the South Carolina House of Representatives. It consists of 46 senators elected from single member districts for four-year terms at the sa ...

, representing the 14th District from since 1980, initially as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, and from October 1989, as a Republican. He was the Senate Majority Leader from 2005 to 2016 and president of the senate from 2019 to 2021. In 2021, he became Chair of the Finance Committee after the death of Hugh Leatherman.

Early life and career

He was born on September 8, 1948 in

Gaffney, South Carolina Gaffney is a city in and the seat of Cherokee County, South Carolina, United States, in the Upstate region of South Carolina. Gaffney is known as the "Peach Capital of South Carolina". The population was 12,539 at the 2010 census, with an estim ...

. He received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

from Clemson University in 1970. He served as a lieutenant in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

from 1970 to 1972. He is a

dairyman A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on a ...

Political career

He has served as a state senator for South Carolina since 1981. Peeler became Senate Majority Leader in 2005 after the resignation of Hugh Leatherman. He resigned as Majority Leader in 2016. In Peeler's first year in the state senate, he formed a voting bloc with Hugh Leatherman. In 1989, he was one of five Democratic South Carolina legislators to switch to the Republican Party from the Democratic. He has served as chairman of the Senate Medical Affairs Committee since 2001, and vice-chairman of the Senate Finance Committee since 2007. He is the brother of former South Carolina Lieutenant Governor

Bob Peeler Robert Lee "Bob" Peeler (born January 4, 1952) served as the 86th Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina from January 1995 to January 2003. He was the first Republican Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina since Richard Howell Gleaves served ...

Confederate flag controversy

In 2015, after the

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles can ...

at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, which killed fellow State Senator Clementa C. Pinckney, Peeler voted against removing the

Confederate flag The flags of the Confederate States of America have a history of three successive designs during the American Civil War. The flags were known as the "Stars and Bars", used from 1861 to 1863; the "Stainless Banner", used from 1863 to 1865; and ...

. Peeler compared removing it to "removing a tattoo from the corpse of a loved one and thinking that that would change the loved one's obituary". He was one of only three state senators to vote against its removal, the other two being

Danny Verdin Daniel Byron Verdin III (born May 9, 1964) is a member of the South Carolina Senate, representing District 9 ( Greenville and Laurens Counties). In November 2008, he was chosen as majority whip.http://www.greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti ...

and Lee Bright. Fifteen years earlier, Peeler was one of only seven senators who voted against the flag's removal from the top of the South Carolina Capitol Dome and both chambers of the South Carolina Legislature to its present position on the capitol grounds, arguing that the flag's removal would only worsen race relations. The 2000 vote was a compromise between anti- and pro-flag forces in the wake of an economic

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict som ...

of the state.

Personal life

He married Ila LaDonna Caudill on August 8,

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

, and they have three children: Brantlee Rene, Harvey Smith III, and Boone Solomon. He attends Gaffney First Baptist Church. He is a

Mason Mason may refer to: Occupations * Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a craftsman who lays bricks to construct brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces * Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cut ...

and a

Shriner Shriners International, formally known as the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (AAONMS), is an American Masonic society established in 1870 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida. Shriners International describes itself ...

. He is a member of the American Jersey Cattle Association and the

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militi ...

Notes

References

External links

*''Follow the Money'' – Harvey S. Peeler Jr.
2006200420022000
campaign contributions * , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Peeler, Harvey S. Jr. 1948 births 21st-century American politicians American Freemasons Clemson University alumni Dairy farmers Living people People from Gaffney, South Carolina Republican Party South Carolina state senators