COLUMBIA, S.C., Nov. 3 (UPI) -- Republican Nikki Haley was elected South Carolina's first female governor Tuesday, defeating Democrat Vincent Sheheen in a tight race.
Haley, a state legislator and the first Indian-American elected official in South Carolina, will be the first member of a minority group to head state government, The State reported. An underdog when she entered the race last year, she got a critical boost in the Republican primary from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
Jenny Sanford, the estranged wife of Gov. Mark Sanford, also backed Haley.
Sheheen is a state senator.
Related
As expected, Sen. Jim DeMint won a second term, defeating Alvin Greene, a surprise winner of the Democratic primary who received no support from the national party and did little campaigning. DeMint hailed his win and others Tuesday, assuming leadership of the new breed of Republicans, Politico reported.
"Tea party Republicans were elected to go to Washington and save the country -- not be co-opted by the club. So put on your boxing gloves. The fight begins today," DeMint wrote in a piece published late Tuesday by the online Wall Street Journal.
In a key congressional race, Republican Mick Mulvaney defeated Democrat John Spratt in the fifth district. Spratt, after 14 terms, was the senior member of South Carolina's congressional delegation and chairman of the House Committee on the Budget.
In the first district, state Rep. Tom Scott, a Republican, won the seat now held by Republican Harry Brown, who is retiring, The Post and Courier of Charleston reported. Scott and Allan West of Florida will be the first black Republicans in more than a century to represent the South in Congress.
