Thomas Forbes "Tommy" Hartnett (born August 7, 1941) is a former

U.S. Representative 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 c ...

from

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 = ...

Life and career

Hartnett was born in Charleston. He graduated from

Bishop England High School Bishop England High School is a diocesan Roman Catholic four-year high school in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. It was located on Calhoun Street in downtown Charleston until it moved to a newly constructed 40-acre campus located on Dani ...

in Charleston in 1960. He attended the

College of Charleston The College of Charleston (CofC or Charleston) is a public university in Charleston, South Carolina. Founded in 1770 and chartered in 1785, it is the oldest university in South Carolina, the 13th oldest institution of higher learning in the Unit ...

from 1960 to 1961 and was in the

United States Air Force Reserve The Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) is a major command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, with its headquarters at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. It is the federal Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the U.S. Air Force, consisting of commiss ...

from 1963 to 1969 and

South Carolina Air National Guard The South Carolina Air National Guard (SC ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of South Carolina, United States of America. It is, along with the South Carolina Army National Guard, an element of the South Carolina National Guard. As state ...

from 1981 to 1987. In 1964, Hartnett was elected to the

South Carolina House of Representatives The South Carolina House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Carolina General Assembly. It consists of 124 representatives elected to two-year terms at the same time as U.S. congressional elections. Unlike many legislatures, seati ...

from a Charleston-area district. He served four terms in that body. Originally 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 ...

, he became a Republican in 1972, and attended that year's state Republican convention (and every convention after that until 1980). He was elected to 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 ...

in 1972 and served two terms. In 1980, Hartnett won the Republican nomination for the Charleston-based 1st District after five-term incumbent

Mendel Jackson Davis Mendel Jackson Davis (October 23, 1942 – May 13, 2007) was an attorney and a United States Representative from South Carolina. Early life and career Mendel Jackson Davis was born in North Charleston to Felix Charles Davis and Elizabeth Ja ...

retired due to back problems. He narrowly defeated his Democratic opponent, Associate Deputy Commerce Secretary

Charles D. Ravenel Charles Dufort "Pug" Ravenel (February 14, 1938 – March 25, 2017) was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party from South Carolina who won the 1974 Democratic gubernatorial primary. Ravenel was the favorite to win the genera ...

, becoming the first Republican to win an undisputed election in the district since

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...

. Hartnett likely owed his win to

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

winning

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). ...

with 55% of the vote. The district had also been trending Republican for some time at the national level; it has only supported the Democratic candidate for president once since 1956, when

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

carried it in 1976. But conservative Democrats continued to hold most of the district's seats in the state legislature, as well as most local offices, well into the 1990s. Hartnett was convincingly reelected in 1982, and took 61% of the vote in 1984. He gave up his seat in 1986 to run for

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

, narrowly losing to Democratic State Senator

Nick Theodore Nick Andrew Theodore (born September 16, 1928) is a former American politician from South Carolina. He was the first Greek-American elected to the South Carolina State Legislature. He served as a state representative from 1963 to 1966 and 1970 t ...

. He then became a real estate agent, founding Hartnett Realty in his hometown of Mount Pleasant. Hartnett came out of retirement in 1992 to run for 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 ...

against four-term incumbent and fellow Charleston resident

Ernest Hollings Ernest Frederick "Fritz" Hollings (January 1, 1922April 6, 2019) was an American politician who served as a United States senator from South Carolina from 1966 to 2005. A conservative Democrat, he was also the 106th governor of South Carolina, t ...

. He gave Hollings his closest race ever, losing by only three percentage points in a very good year for Democrats nationally. Hartnett lives in Mount Pleasant and is chairman of the family-owned Hartnett Realty. The firm was created in 1947 by Catherine Forbes Hartnett and is one of the oldest Charleston real estate firms. He was a delegate to every Republican National Convention from 1980 to 2000.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hartnett, Thomas Forbes 1941 births Living people Republican Party South Carolina state senators Republican Party members of the South Carolina House of Representatives College of Charleston alumni Politicians from Charleston, South Carolina United States Air Force airmen Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from South Carolina South Carolina National Guard personnel