Senator Tim Scott announced his run for President on May 22 of this year and is polling around 1% to 2% nationally. The South Carolina senator also polls around 7% among GOP primary voters in his home state, and has a proven record of winning after successfully defending himself in the 2022 midterm elections – winning in a landslide with 62.9% against his Democratic challenger Krystle Matthews.
Can Scott, then, translate his domestic popularity inside South Carolina and move the needle in his race for the White House? What does he stand for and how does that speak to today’s GOP? And where does he factor in among the other contenders?
Where Does Scott Stand?
Scott, 57, was born to a poor single mother in North Charleston, South Carolina. He’s the only black Republican to serve in the US Senate and the only black politician to serve as both a Senator and Congressman.
Scott worked his way up through South Carolina state politics before winning election to the US Congress in 2011 and later being appointed to the US Senate by former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley in 2012 upon the departure of former Senator Jim DeMint.
Scott is a born-again Christian and a social conservative who would like to see a federal ban on all elective abortions after 15 weeks, supports school choice and is by most measures a pro-free market, Reagan-style conservative. Scott has also promised to prohibit critical race theory in education, maintain the famous Trump tax cuts, build the southern border wall, fire FBI director Chris Wray and back Ukraine and NATO in the conflict against Russia.
Scott has come out strongly against the Biden Administration and modern Democratic party, saying they are worsening racism and polarization.
“If you wanted a blueprint to ruin America, you’d keep doing exactly what Joe Biden has let the far left do to our country for the past two years. Tell every white kid they’re oppressors. Tell Black and brown kids their destiny is grievance, not greatness,” Scott said.
Scott In A Crowded Field
Scott is close with some highly wealthy donors including Oracle founder and billionaire Larry Ellison. Scott entered the race by transferring over $22 million to his campaign. His Opportunity Matters Fund PAC shelled out over $20 million to boost GOP candidates in 2022.
Nonetheless, Scott was recently overtaken by outsider candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and faces a range of issues including home state competition from Haley, who is running on a very similar platform.
Despite being overshadowed by Ron DeSantis, Mike Pence and Chris Christie in name recognition, Scott has definite potential to become more well-known on the campaign trail and win over voters and a larger share of the media spotlight. He’s also indicated he’s willing to run as Trump’s VP pick if chosen.
Can Scott Win?
Scott is still a definite long shot, but he has a lot going for him and there’s still plenty of campaigning left to happen. His more moderate profile within the party, combined with a talent for staying on the good side of the pro-Trump and anti-Trump wings of the party, put Scott in a favorable position.
The South Carolina senator is also massively outflanked by Trump and DeSantis, but it’s also worth keeping in mind that he poses a unique challenge to the Democrats if he were to win the nomination or be chosen as VP by a nominee.
“Almost any Democrat can write the campaign plan against Donald Trump. Almost any Democrat can write the campaign plan against Ron DeSantis,” commented former Democratic National Committee communications director Mo Elleithee. “But I think people would have to think long and hard about how you run against Tim Scott.”
Paul Brian is an author and freelance journalist who has reported for Reuters, BBC and Foreign Policy, and contributed to the Spectator, the Federalist and the American Conservative. He has covered global events from Europe, the former Soviet Union and the Middle East to South America.
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