(Adds detail on Scott)
By Harriet McLeod
CHARLESTON, S.C., Dec 17 (Reuters) – South Carolina Governor
Nikki Haley on Monday picked first-term Republican
Representative Tim Scott to fill the U.S. Senate seat being
vacated by fellow Republican Jim DeMint.
Speculation had centered on Scott, 47, as the likely
replacement since DeMint announced on Dec. 6 that he was
stepping down from the Senate in order to head the Heritage
Foundation, a conservative think tank.
When he takes office, Scott, 47, will be the only
African-American member of the Senate and the first black
senator from the South since the late 1800s.
Scott was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in
2010 with support from the fiscally conservative Tea Party
movement that also helped Haley win the governor’s office that
year for the Republican party.
Scott, who represents the coastal district that includes
Charleston, has been one of the most conservative members of
Congress. He sponsored legislation to repeal the Affordable Care
Act, known as “Obamacare,” opposed raising the nation’s debt
limit and supported DeMint’s fiscal “cut, cap and balance”
pledge.
(Editing By David Adams and Eric Walsh)
