Paul Reynolds Thurmond (born January 9, 1976) 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 ...

from the state of

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

. A member of the Republican Party, Thurmond is a former 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 ...

. He is the youngest child (and one of three surviving children) of Strom Thurmond, who served in the

United States 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 ...

for 48 years.

Early life

Ford B2348 NLGRF photo contact sheet (1976-11-29)(Gerald Ford Library) (cropped2)

Paul was born to Nancy (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Moore) and Strom Thurmond on January 9, 1976, the couple's fourth child. Paul's father was 73 years old at the time of his birth. In February 1976, Strom enrolled Paul in

The Citadel The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, commonly known simply as The Citadel, is a Public college, public United States senior military college, senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina. Established in 1842, it is one ...

for a 1993 admission. He attended Aiken High School in

Aiken, South Carolina Aiken is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Aiken County, in western South Carolina. It is one of the two largest cities of the Central Savannah River Area. Founded in 1835, Aiken was named after William Aiken, the president of the Sout ...

, and

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

, where he received a scholarship to play tennis. He received his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from 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 ...

Career

Thurmond served as an assistant

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

in the Ninth Circuit Solicitor's Office, leaving the position in 2005 to open his own law firm, formerly Thurmond Kirchner Timbes & Yelverton, P.A., now Thurmond, Kirchner, and Timbes Law Firm In 2006, he was elected to the

Charleston County Charleston County is located in the U.S. state of South Carolina along the Atlantic coast. As of the 2020 census, its population was 408,235, making it the third most populous county in South Carolina (behind Greenville and Richland counties). ...

council. Though he initially announced he would leave politics in 2009, opting not to run for a second term as a councilman, Thurmond chose to run for a seat in 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 house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

, representing

South Carolina's 1st congressional district The 1st congressional district of South Carolina is a coastal congressional district in South Carolina, represented by Republican Nancy Mace since January 3, 2021. She succeeded Democrat Joe Cunningham, having defeated him in the 2020 electio ...

, following

Henry E. Brown Jr. Henry Edward Brown Jr. (born December 20, 1935) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for from 2001 to 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party. He did not stand for re-election in 2010. The district is based in Char ...

's retirement in 2010. Thurmond finished second in the Republican primary, forcing a

runoff election The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resul ...

against

Tim Scott Timothy Eugene Scott (born September 19, 1965) is an American businessman and politician serving as the junior United States senator from South Carolina since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Scott was appointed to the U.S. Senate by Go ...

. Scott defeated Thurmond in the runoff.Kiely, Kath
Tim Scott wins nomination to become first black Republican congressman since 2003
''

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'', June 22, 2010. Thurmond ran for the

in 2012 to represent the 41st district. The seat was vacated by Glenn F. McConnell, who became

Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina The lieutenant governor of South Carolina is the second-in-command to the governor of South Carolina. Beyond overseeing the Office on Aging and the responsibility to act or serve as governor in the event of the office's vacancy, the duties of th ...

. Thurmond defeated Walter Hundley, who succeeded McConnell in a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...

held in July 2012. Thurmond won the general election, defeating Paul Tinkler, a Charleston City Councilman and member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, on November 6, 2012. Thurmond did not seek re-election in 2016. The

American Conservative Union The American Conservative Union (ACU) is an American political organization that advocates for conservative policies, ranks politicians based on their level of conservatism, and organizes the Conservative Political Action Conference. Founded on ...

gave him an 88% evaluation and the

Club for Growth The Club for Growth is a 501(c)(4) conservative organization active in the United States, with an agenda focused on cutting taxes and other economic policy issues. Club for Growth's largest funders are the billionaires Jeff Yass and Richard U ...

gave him a 90% evaluation.

Confederate flag

In a speech to the State Senate in July 2015, Thurmond called for 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 ...

to be permanently removed from the grounds of the State House. The move was triggered by the shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church in Charleston which occurred a month earlier, in which nine people —including Thurmond's colleague

Clementa Pinckney Clementa Carlos "Clem" Pinckney (July 30, 1973 – June 17, 2015) was an American politician and pastor who served as a Democratic member of the South Carolina Senate, representing the 45th District from 2000 until his death in 2015. He was ...

— were killed. The massacre was carried out by

white supremacist White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other Race (human classification), races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any Power (social and polit ...

Dylann Roof Dylann Storm Roof (born April 3, 1994) is an American white supremacist, neo-Nazi, and mass murderer convicted of perpetrating the Charleston church shooting on June 17, 2015, in the U.S. state of South Carolina. During a Bible study at Emanue ...

Personal

Thurmond has a wife, Katie, three sons and two daughters. One of four siblings, he was also the half-brother (through his father) of the late

Essie Mae Washington-Williams Essie Mae Washington-Williams (née Butler; October 12, 1925 – February 4, 2013) was an American teacher and author. She is best known as the eldest child of Strom Thurmond, Governor of South Carolina (1947–1951) and longtime United States ...

, who was 50 years his senior.

References

External links

Campaign website
* *
Thurmond Kirchner & Timbes Law Firm
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thurmond, Paul 1976 births Living people

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

South Carolina city council members Republican Party South Carolina state senators Vanderbilt Commodores men's tennis players University of South Carolina School of Law alumni 21st-century American politicians People from Aiken, South Carolina South Carolina lawyers