Russell Fry | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2023 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromSouth Carolina's7th district | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Tom Rice |
| Member of theSouth Carolina House of Representatives from the 106th district | |
| In office September 19, 2015 – November 14, 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Nelson Hardwick |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Val Guest |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Russell William Fry (1985-01-31)January 31, 1985 (age 40) |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Bronwen Fry |
| Children | 1 |
| Education | University of South Carolina (BA) Charleston School of Law (JD) |
| Website | House website Campaign website |
Russell William Fry (born January 31, 1985) is anAmerican politician and lawyer serving as the U.S. representative forSouth Carolina's 7th congressional district since 2023.[1]
A member of theRepublican Party,[2] Fry represented the 106th District in theSouth Carolina House of Representatives from 2015 to 2023.[3][4] In 2018, he was appointed to the position of Majority Chief Whip for the 122nd South Carolina General Assembly.[5]
In May 2015, State RepresentativeNelson Hardwick announced his resignation after House leadership investigated sexual harassment allegations against him.[6] Fry ran in the special election for Hardwick's seat. He won a plurality of the vote in the Republican primary in July and advanced to arunoff against Tyler Servant.[7] Fry won the runoff, and was unopposed in the general election.[8]
In the aftermath of the2021 United States Capitol attack,Tom Rice, who was serving as the U.S. representative forSouth Carolina's 7th congressional district, unexpectedly voted in favor ofimpeaching President Donald Trump.[9] Fry criticized Rice for his vote, and said he was considering running against him in 2022.[10] In August 2021, Fry announced that he would challenge Rice in the 2022 election, emphasizing his opposition to Trump's impeachment.[11] On February 1, 2022, Trump endorsed Fry.[12] In the June 14 Republican primary, Fry defeated Rice by 26.6 percentage points.[13] On November 8, Fry was elected to Congress with 64.9% of the vote, defeatingDemocratic nominee Daryl Scott.
Fry was elected to serve as the president of the congressional freshman class during orientation week.[14][15] On January 16, 2023, it was announced that Fry would serve on theHouse Judiciary Committee.[16]
In 2023, Fry was among 47 Republicans to vote in favor of H.Con.Res. 21, which directed PresidentJoe Biden to remove U.S. troops fromSyria within 180 days.[18][19]
In 2023, Fry was among 52 Republicans who voted in favor H.Con.Res. 30, which would remove American troops fromSomalia.[20][21]
Fry was among the 187 Republicans who voted in favor of H.R. 6090: TheAntisemitism Awareness Act.[22] The act would require the use of theInternational Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism "when reviewing or investigating complaints of discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance."[23] TheAmerican Civil Liberties Union, along with other organizations, warned against the adoption of this definition as it could limit free speech surroundingcriticism of Israel on college campuses.[24][25]
Fry voted to provideIsrael with support following the2023 Hamas attack on Israel.[26][27]
| Year | Candidate | Votes | Pct | Candidate | Votes | Pct | Candidate | Votes | Pct | Candidate | Votes | Pct | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 Special Republican Primary | Russell Fry | 1,152 | 44.8% | Tyler Servant | 856 | 33.3% | Roy Sprinkle | 374 | 14.5% | Sanford Cox Graves | 192 | 7.5% | |||||
| 2015 Special Republican Primary Runoff[28] | Russell Fry | 1,738 | 59.8% | Tyler Servant | 1,167 | 40.2% | |||||||||||
| 2015 Special General Election[29] | Russell Fry | 17,841 | 99.5% | ||||||||||||||
| 2016 General Election[30] | Russell Fry (i) | 17,841 | 100.0% | ||||||||||||||
| 2018 General Election[31] | Russell Fry (i) | 13,198 | 68.4% | Robin Gause | 6,088 | 31.5% | Other/Write-in | 14 | 0.1% |
| Year | Candidate | Votes | Pct | Candidate | Votes | Pct | Candidate | Votes | Pct | Candidate | Votes | Pct | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 Republican Primary | Russell Fry | 43,509 | 51.1% | Tom Rice (i) | 20,927 | 24.6% | Barbara Arthur | 10,481 | 12.3% | Ken Richardson | 6,021 | 7.1% | |||||
| 2022 General Election | Russell Fry | 164,160 | 64.8% | Daryl W. Scott | 88,779 | 35.0% | |||||||||||
| 2024 General Election[32] | Russell Fry | 240,326 | 64.9% | Mal Hyman | 129,522 | 35% | Write-in | 481 | 0.1% |
Fry is aBaptist.[33] He is married and has one son.
{{cite news}}:|first= has generic name (help){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromSouth Carolina's 7th congressional district 2023–present | Incumbent |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded by | United States representatives by seniority 316th | Succeeded by |