U.S. Sen. Tim Scott is favored to win a U.S. Senate seat next month, becoming the first African-American ever elected to the Senate from South Carolina and the first black elected to a statewide office since Reconstruction.
But, if political polls hold true, black S.C. voters will reject Scott on Nov. 4, casting their ballots instead for his black Democratic challenger, Joyce Dickerson of Columbia.
Republican Scott, who is running to keep the seat Gov. Nikki Haley appointed him to when U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint resigned in 2012, does not dwell on the fact that his approval among fellow African-Americans is low.
“(I)t’s helpful to know how far down you are, no doubt,” Scott told The State newspaper Wednesday.
“For me, though, from a completely authentic position, the people that I talk to very often are the people that need the most help and the most hope. My life story is a story of hope and opportunity. If I don’t share that with the folks, I’m not honoring the opportunity I was given. … Whether I get people to vote for me or not – I hope that they do – but it’s not really the only goal.”
Scott frequently talks about his path from poverty in a single-parent household and flunking school, to finding a mentor in a fast-food business owner, to eventually starting his own business before he was elected a Charleston County councilman.
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