Jim DeMint

James Warren DeMint (born September 2, 1951) is an American businessman, author, and retired politician who served as a United States Senator from South Carolina and as president of The Heritage Foundation.

A leading figure in the Tea Party movement, DeMint is a member of the Republican Party and is the founder of the Senate Conservatives Fund.

He received a bachelor's degree in 1973 from the University of Tennessee, where he was a part of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, and received an MBA in 1981 from Clemson University.

DeMint joined his father-in-law's advertising firm in Greenville in 1981, working in the field of market research.

In 1983, he founded The DeMint Group, a research firm with businesses, schools, colleges, and hospitals as clients.

DeMint's first involvement in politics began in 1992, when he was hired by Republican Representative Bob Inglis to work on his campaign for South Carolina's Fourth Congressional District.

Inglis defeated three-term incumbent Democrat Liz J. Patterson, and DeMint performed message-testing and marketing for Inglis through two more successful elections.

In 1998, Inglis ran for the U.S. Senate instead of seeking re-election to the House of Representatives.

DeMint left his firm to run for Inglis' House seat.

The district was considered the most Republican in the state, and it was understood that whoever won the primary would be heavily favored to be the district's next congressman.

DeMint finished second in the Republican primary behind State Senator and fellow Greenville resident Michael Fair.

In the runoff, DeMint narrowly defeated Fair by 2,030 votes.

He then defeated Democratic State Senator Glenn Reese with 57 percent of the vote to Reese's 40 percent.

DeMint served as the United States representative for SC's 4th congressional district from 1999 to 2005.

DeMint faced no major-party opposition in 2000, and defeated an underfunded Democrat in 2002.

DeMint was elected president of the freshman class of House Republicans.

DeMint pledged to serve only three terms in the House.

The Washington Post and The Christian Post have described DeMint as a "staunch conservative", based on his actions during his time in the House.

He broke rank with his party and powerful state interests several times: DeMint was one of 34 Republicans to oppose President Bush's No Child Left Behind program and one of 25 to oppose Medicare Part D.

He sought to replace No Child Left Behind with a state-based block-grant program for schools.

DeMint also worked to privatize Social Security by allowing the creation of individual investment accounts in the federal program.

DeMint declared his candidacy for the Senate on December 12, 2002, after Sen. Ernest Hollings announced that he would retire after the 2004 elections.

DeMint was the White House's preferred candidate in the Republican primary.

In 2003, DeMint sponsored legislation to allow people under the age of 55 to set aside 3 percent to 8 percent of their Social Security withholding income in personal investment accounts.

DeMint was also the only South Carolina House member to vote for normalizing trade relations with China, arguing in favor of free trade between the countries.

He also provided a crucial swing vote on a free trade bill regarding Caribbean countries.

His votes led South Carolina's influential textile industry to heavily oppose him in his subsequent House and Senate races.

He was elected to the U.S. Senate from South Carolina in 2004 and reelected in 2010.

In the Republican primary on June 8, 2004, DeMint placed a distant second, 10.3% behind former governor David Beasley and just barely ahead of Thomas Ravenel.

Ravenel endorsed DeMint in the following runoff.

DeMint won the runoff handily, however.

DeMint then faced Democratic state education superintendent Inez Tenenbaum in the November general election.

DeMint served in the Senate until January 2, 2013, when he stepped down to become president of The Heritage Foundation.

On May 2, 2017, DeMint resigned his position at Heritage at the request of its board.

He later became a senior advisor to Citizens for Self-Governance and the founding chairman of the Conservative Partnership Institute.

DeMint was born in Greenville, South Carolina, one of four children.

His parents, Betty W. (née Rawlings) and Thomas Eugene DeMint, divorced when he was five years old.

Following the divorce, Betty DeMint operated a dance studio out of the family's home.

DeMint attended Christ Church Episcopal School and Wade Hampton High School.

He played drums for a cover band called Salt & Pepper.