For the first time in history, there are two African Americans serving in the United States Senate. SC Governor Nikki Haley appointed freshman Republican Congressman Tim Scott to replace Senator Jim De Mint who left the post to head the Heritage Foundation. After John Kerry resigned his Senate seat to assume his duties as Secretary of State, MA Governor Deval Patrick appointed his former Chief Legal Counsel and Chief of Staff William "Mo" Cowan to fill the vacancy until the June 25th statewide election to determine a permanent replacement. Let's take a look at these men who are making history with their service.
Timothy Eugene "Tim" Scott (born September 19, 1965) is the junior United States Senator for South Carolina, in office since 2013. Previously he was the U.S. Representative for South Carolina's 1st congressional district from 2011 to 2013. Elected in November 2010 to the 112th Congress, he was the first Republican African-American Representative from South Carolina since 1897. Scott was also one of the two members of the 2010 freshman class chosen to sit at the House Republican leadership table. Scott, a fiscal and cultural conservative, ran for Congress on a platform of reducing federal spending and taxes. He was endorsed by Tea Party groups.
Previously, Scott served one term in the South Carolina General Assembly (2009–2011), and 13 years on the Charleston County Council (1996–2008). A graduate of Charleston Southern University, Scott owns an insurance agency and has worked as a financial advisor.
On December 17, 2012, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley named Scott to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Jim DeMint who announced his resignation earlier that month. At the time of his appointment, Scott wass the only African American member of the United States Senate as well as only the seventh African American to have ever served in the United States Senate. Scott is the first-ever African-American senator from the state of South Carolina and the first from the South since 1881.
Scott took office on January 2, a day before the rest of the freshman senators, resulting in a seniority ranking of 88, several places ahead of where he would have been had he been inaugurated on the regular date. He was joined by a second African-American Senator in the 113th Congress following the appointment of William "Mo" Cowan to the U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts on January 30, 2013.
Cowan is a graduate of Duke University and Northeastern University School of Law, and lives in Stoughton, Massachusetts with his wife, Stacy, and their two young sons.
Cowan is the former chief of staff and chief legal counsel to Governor Patrick, having served in the Patrick-Murray Administration since 2009.
Governor Patrick turned down former Congressman Barney Frank, who actively sought the interim appointmen, in favor of Cowan.
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