Tommy Hartnett | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromSouth Carolina's1st district | |
| In office January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1987 | |
| Preceded by | Mendel Davis |
| Succeeded by | Arthur Ravenel |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Thomas Forbes Hartnett (1941-08-07)August 7, 1941 (age 84) |
| Political party | Democratic (before 1972) Republican (1972–present) |
| Children | Tom |
| Education | College of Charleston (attended) |
Thomas Forbes "Tommy" Hartnett (born August 7, 1941) is a former American politician who served as aU.S. Representative fromSouth Carolina.
Hartnett was born inCharleston. He graduated fromBishop England High School in Charleston in 1960. He attended theCollege of Charleston from 1960 to 1961 and was in theUnited States Air Force Reserve from 1963 to 1969 andSouth Carolina Air National Guard from 1981 to 1987.
In 1964, Hartnett was elected to theSouth Carolina House of Representatives from a Charleston-area district. He served four terms in that body. Originally aDemocrat, he became a Republican in 1972, and attended that year's state Republican convention (and every convention after that until 1980). He was a delegate to every Republican National Convention from 1980 to 2000.
He was elected to theSouth Carolina Senate in 1972 and served two terms.
In 1980, Hartnett won the Republican nomination for the Charleston-based1st District after five-term incumbentMendel Jackson Davis retired due to back problems. He narrowly defeated his Democratic opponent, Associate Deputy Commerce SecretaryCharles D. Ravenel, becoming the first Republican to win an undisputed election in the district sinceReconstruction. Hartnett likely owed his win toRonald Reagan winningCharleston County with 55% of the vote. The district had also been trending Republican for some time at the national level; it has only supported the Democratic candidate for president once since 1956, whenJimmy Carter carried it in 1976. But conservative Democrats continued to hold most of the district's seats in the state legislature, as well as most local offices, well into the 1990s.
Hartnett was convincingly reelected in 1982, and took 61% of the vote in 1984. He gave up his seat in 1986 to run forlieutenant governor, narrowly losing to Democratic State SenatorNick Theodore. He then became a real estate agent, founding Hartnett Realty in his hometown ofMount Pleasant.
Hartnett came out of retirement in 1992 to run for theUnited States Senate against four-term incumbent and fellow Charleston residentErnest Hollings. He gave Hollings his closest race ever, losing by only three percentage points in a very good year for Democrats nationally.
Hartnett lives in Mount Pleasant and is chairman of the family-owned Hartnett Realty.[1] The firm was created in 1947 by Catherine Forbes Hartnett and is one of the oldest[2] Charleston real estate firms. His son,Tom Hartnett Jr., currently serves in the South Carolina House of Representatives.
Image, Hartnett campaigns for United States Senate in South Carolina with supporter Kansas US SenatorBob Dole, 1992.
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromSouth Carolina's 1st congressional district 1981–1987 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forLieutenant Governor of South Carolina 1986 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forU.S. Senator fromSouth Carolina (Class 3) 1992 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former U.S. Representative | Order of precedence of the United States as Former U.S. Representative | Succeeded byas Former U.S. Representative |
| People | |
|---|---|
| Other | |
