Paul Thurmond


Paul Reynolds Thurmond is an American politician from the state of South Carolina. A member of the Republican Party, Thurmond is a former member of the South Carolina Senate. He is the youngest child of Strom Thurmond, who served in the United States Senate for 48 years, and famously became a father again, at 73 years old with Paul.

Early life

Paul was born to Nancy and Strom Thurmond on January 9, 1976, the couple's fourth child. Strom was 73 years old at the time of Paul's birth. In February 1976, Strom enrolled Paul in The Citadel for a 1993 admission. He attended Aiken High School in Aiken, South Carolina, and Vanderbilt University, where he received a scholarship to play tennis. He received his Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law.

Career

Thurmond served as an assistant solicitor in the Ninth Circuit Solicitor's Office, leaving the position in 2005 to open his own law firm, formerly Thurmond Kirchner Timbes & Yelverton, P.A., now Thurmond, Kirchner, and Timbes Law Firm In 2006, he was elected to the Charleston County council. Though he initially announced he would leave politics in 2009, opting not to run for a second term as a councilman, Thurmond chose to run for a seat in the United States House of Representatives, representing South Carolina's 1st congressional district, following Henry E. Brown, Jr.'s retirement in 2010. Thurmond finished second in the Republican primary, forcing a runoff election against Tim Scott. Scott defeated Thurmond in the runoff.
Thurmond ran for the South Carolina Senate in 2012 to represent the 41st district. The seat was vacated by Glenn F. McConnell, who became Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina. Thurmond defeated Walter Hundley, who succeeded McConnell in a special election held in July 2012. Thurmond won the general election, defeating Paul Tinkler, a Charleston City Councilman and member of the Democratic Party, on November 6, 2012.
Thurmond did not seek re-election in 2016. The American Conservative Union gave him an 88% evaluation and the Club for Growth gave him a 90% evalution.

Confederate flag

In a speech to the State Senate in July 2015, Thurmond called for the Confederate flag to be permanently removed from the grounds of the State House. The move was triggered by the shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church in Charleston which occurred a month earlier, in which nine people—including Thurmond's colleague Clementa Pinckney—were killed. The massacre was carried out by white supremacist Dylann Roof, who was a prominent exhibitionist of the flag.

Personal

Thurmond has a wife, Katie, three sons and two daughters. He is the half brother of the late Essie Mae Washington-Williams, 50 years his senior through his father.