South Carolina State Sen. John Scott, Longtime Democratic Lawmaker, Dies at 69

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — State Sen. John Scott, a longtime South Carolina lawmaker who served in state authorities for greater than three a long time, died Sunday after a stint within the hospital, in response to Democrats throughout the state. He was 69.

Scott had been on the Medical College of South Carolina in Charleston since Friday when he was hospitalized for an undisclosed medical difficulty, in response to Senate officers.

In an announcement launched by Senate President Thomas Alexander, Scott’s household mentioned he “handed away peaceably whereas surrounded by household and shut pals.”

Scott, a Columbia Democrat, operated a realty firm and had been within the Legislature for greater than 30 years, serving most lately on the Senate’s judiciary, medical affairs and penology committees. First elected to the state Home in 1990, he received election to the Senate in 2008 and would have been up for reelection subsequent 12 months. He ran unopposed within the 2020 normal election.

Marguerite Willis, who selected Scott as her running mate when she unsuccessfully sought the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 2018, instructed The Related Press on Sunday that she was with Scott’s household in Charleston when he died. Recalling their history-making marketing campaign — South Carolina’s first-ever ticket composed of a white lady and Black man — Willis mentioned she and Scott mirrored lately on their marketing campaign.

“John and I have been simply speaking about this a month in the past,” Willis mentioned. “We have been pleased with that, and what it mentioned about concord and variety and the significance of getting each sexes and two races collectively. It broadened our imaginative and prescient and our expertise and thus our influence.”

Willis, who mentioned she hadn’t recognized Scott till they turned working mates, mentioned their political affiliation rapidly advanced in a detailed friendship.

“He was an excellent supporter of ladies and ladies’s points,” she mentioned. “It was form of an organized marriage in a bizarre method: individuals put us collectively, and over the past 5 years, we turned brother and sister. He was my good friend and my household.”

A particular election will probably be held to fill Scott’s seat. Based on statute, after the Senate’s presiding officer requires the election, submitting opens on the third Friday after the emptiness, with the election to be held roughly three months later. Gov. Henry McMaster mentioned in assertion that Scott “will probably be deeply missed,” and the governor’s workplace mentioned he would order flags lowered throughout the state as soon as funeral preparations have been introduced.

Scott’s influence reverberated Sunday all through South Carolina’s Democratic circles. Christale Spain, elected earlier this 12 months as chair of South Carolina’s Democratic Occasion and one in all Scott’s constituents, remembered him as somebody who “used his voice within the Basic Meeting to combat not just for his district however for all South Carolinians and his life’s work on problems with schooling, healthcare and financial improvement can have an enduring influence on our state.”

Senate Democratic Chief Brad Hutto remembered Scott’s “tireless work ethic, his willingness to bridge divides, and his unyielding dedication to the rules of justice and equality.”

“A large tree has fallen,” former Democratic state Sen. Marlon Kimpson, who served alongside Scott earlier than leaving the chamber earlier this 12 months, mentioned Sunday. Calling him the “monetary pit bull of the Senate,” Kimpson mentioned his former colleague “reminded us consistently or our fiscal duty to these South Carolinians in want.”

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