Jaime Harrison
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Jaime R. Harrison (; born February 5, 1976) is an American attorney and politician who is the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. He previously served as the chair of the
South Carolina Democratic Party The South Carolina Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It is headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina. History The Democratic Party thrived during the Second Party System between 183 ...
from 2013 to 2017. Harrison unsuccessfully ran against incumbent senator
Lindsey Graham Lindsey Olin Graham (born July 9, 1955) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from South Carolina, a seat he has held since 2003. A member of the Republican Party, Graham chaired the Senate Committee on ...
for the South Carolina
U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...
seat in the 2020 election.


Early life and education

Harrison was born and raised in
Orangeburg, South Carolina Orangeburg, also known as ''The Garden City'', is the principal city in and the county seat of Orangeburg County, South Carolina, United States. The population of the city was 13,964 according to the 2010 United States Census and declined to 1 ...
. He was raised by his mother, Patricia Harrison, and his grandparents. He attended a Baptist church in his youth. In 1994, he was selected to the
United States Senate Youth Program The United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP) is an annual scholarship competition sponsored jointly by the U.S. Senate and the William Randolph Hearst Foundation. After a testing and interview process, two high school students are selected fro ...
. He attended
Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School is located in Orangeburg, South Carolina. It is a part of the Orangeburg County School District. It is home to the Mighty Bruins/Bruinettes and also an International Baccalaureate World School. History Delano Mi ...
and received a scholarship to
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
, where he majored in
political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
. After graduating from Yale in 1998, Harrison worked as a teacher for a year at his former high school. In 1999, he was appointed chief operating officer of
College Summit PeerForward, formerly College Summit, is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of low-income youth by connecting them to college and career. In high schools across the nation, PeerForward trains and deploys teams of ...
, a non-profit organization that helps low-income youth find a path to college and career. He earned his Juris Doctor from
Georgetown University Law Center The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...
in 2004.


Career

After leaving College Summit, Harrison became involved in politics, working for
Jim Clyburn James Enos Clyburn (born July 21, 1940) is an American politician and retired educator serving as a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina. He has served as House Majority Whip since 2019. He is a two-time m ...
as his director of floor operations while Clyburn was the
Majority Whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology ...
of the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
. Harrison went on to serve as executive director of the
House Democratic Caucus The House Democratic Caucus is a congressional caucus composed of all Democratic Representatives in the United States House of Representatives and is responsible for nominating and electing the Democratic Party leadership in the chamber. In its ...
and the vice chair of the
South Carolina Democratic Party The South Carolina Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It is headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina. History The Democratic Party thrived during the Second Party System between 183 ...
. He later served as a
lobbyist In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...
for the
Podesta Group The Podesta Group was a lobbying and public affairs firm based in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1988 by brothers John and Tony Podesta and has previously been known as Podesta Associates, podesta.com and PodestaMattoon. John Podesta left ...
. His clients at the Podesta Group included banks, such as
Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank ...
and
Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...
,
Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Its main business and source of capital is insurance, from which it invests the float (the retained premiu ...
, pharmaceutical companies, casinos, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, and
Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
, among others. In addition to lobbying work at Podesta Group, he has also lobbied on behalf of
United Way Worldwide United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit fundraising affiliates. United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public, prior to 2016. United Way organizations raise funds ...
and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. In May 2013, Harrison became the chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party. He is the first African American to have served in this role.


Democratic National Committee


2017 candidacy for Chair

Harrison declared his candidacy for chairperson of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in the February 2017 election. He defended his eight-year record at the Podesta Group, saying, "It's how I pay back the $160,000 of student loan debt." Harrison ended his bid for DNC chair on February 23, 2017, and endorsed
Tom Perez Thomas Edward Perez (born October 7, 1961) is an American politician and attorney who served as the Chair of the Democratic National Committee from February 2017 until January 2021. Perez was previously Assistant Attorney General for Civil Righ ...
. Harrison accepted a position as associate chairman and counselor of the DNC, where he implemented a program called "Every ZIP Code Counts." The program supplied each state party with $10,000 per month so long as the state party did an analysis of its strengths and weaknesses for its internal operations.


2021 election as Chair

Following President Joe Biden's victory in the
2020 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 January: **C ...
, Harrison was nominated by Biden to be the chair of the DNC, succeeding
Tom Perez Thomas Edward Perez (born October 7, 1961) is an American politician and attorney who served as the Chair of the Democratic National Committee from February 2017 until January 2021. Perez was previously Assistant Attorney General for Civil Righ ...
. DNC members elected him on January 21, 2021.


2020 U.S. Senate election

Harrison filed paperwork on February 7, 2019, to challenge Senator
Lindsey Graham Lindsey Olin Graham (born July 9, 1955) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from South Carolina, a seat he has held since 2003. A member of the Republican Party, Graham chaired the Senate Committee on ...
by running for his seat in the U.S. Senate in the 2020 election. No Democrat has won a statewide election in South Carolina since 2006. Harrison launched his campaign on May 29, 2019. Economist and Democrat Dr. Gloria Bromell Tinubu announced her run for the seat in May of 2019. In January 2020, Tinubu dropped out of the race, endorsing Harrison. With Harrison unopposed, the Democratic primary for US Senate was cancelled, and he became the Democratic nominee on June 9, 2020. Harrison and Graham participated in a debate with no audience that was hosted by
Allen University Allen University is a private historically black university in Columbia, South Carolina. It has more than 600 students and still serves a predominantly Black constituency. The campus is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as All ...
on October 3, 2020. A debate originally scheduled for October 9 was changed to feature separate, televised interviews after Graham refused to be tested for
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...
preceding the scheduled debate. In the third quarter of 2020, Harrison raised $57 million, the largest quarterly total by a U.S. Senate candidate ever, breaking
Beto O'Rourke Robert Francis "Beto" O'Rourke ( , ; ; born September 26, 1972) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2013 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, O'Rourke was the party's nominee for the U.S. Senat ...
's record in the 2018 Texas Senate election. He also raised the most ever by a U.S. Senate candidate, beating another record set by O'Rourke. Harrison called for expansion of Medicaid and expanded coronavirus relief. During the 2020 Senate election, Harrison criticized his opponent Lindsey Graham for attempting to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Harrison also supports the
legalization of cannabis The legality of cannabis for medical and recreational use varies by country, in terms of its possession, distribution, and cultivation, and (in regards to medical) how it can be consumed and what medical conditions it can be used for. These ...
. Harrison lost the election to Graham by over ten percentage points, garnering 44.2% of the vote compared to Graham's 54.5%. The day after the election, Niall Stanage of '' The Hill'' stated that Harrison ran a spirited challenge but in the end, Graham "prevailed easily". Harrison broke U.S. Senate campaign fundraising records by raising $109 million.


Electoral history


Personal life

Despite their political rivalry, Harrison is friends with Matt Moore, a former chairman of the
South Carolina Republican Party The South Carolina Republican Party (SCGOP) is the state affiliate of the national Republican Party in South Carolina. It is one of two major political parties in the state, along with the South Carolina Democratic Party, and is the dominant pa ...
. The two co-taught a course at the University of South Carolina during the fall semester of 2015. Harrison met his wife, Marie Boyd, when they worked in Washington, D.C., shortly after the
2008 United States presidential election The 2008 United States presidential election was the 56th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator f ...
. She is a law professor at the
University of South Carolina School of Law The University of South Carolina School of Law, also known as South Carolina Law School, is a professional school within the University of South Carolina. The school of law was founded in 1867, and remains the only public and non-profit law scho ...
. They live in
Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-largest ...
with their two sons.


References


External links


Jaime Harrison for Senate
campaign website * * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Jaime 1976 births 21st-century American politicians African-American people in South Carolina politics American lobbyists Candidates in the 2020 United States Senate elections Democratic National Committee chairs Georgetown University Law Center alumni Living people People from Orangeburg, South Carolina South Carolina Democrats State political party chairs of South Carolina Yale University alumni Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School alumni 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American people