Dick Harpootlian

Richard Harpootlian (born January 23, 1949) is a Democratic member of the South Carolina Senate, representing the 20th Senate District since 2018. He served as the Chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party from 1998 to 2003 and from 2011 to 2013. Harpootlian currently holds a position on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Dick Harpootlian
Senator Dick Harpootlian at a campaign event.
Member of the South Carolina Senate
from the 20th district
Assumed office
November 14, 2018
Preceded byJohn Courson
Chair of the
South Carolina Democratic Party
In office
1998–2003
Succeeded byJoe Erwin
In office
2011–2013
Succeeded byJaime Harrison
Personal details
Born (1949-01-23) January 23, 1949
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Jamie Lindler
Children1
EducationClemson University (BA)
University of South Carolina (JD)

Early life, education and career

Harpootlian is a 1972 graduate of Clemson University and a 1974 graduate of the University of South Carolina School of Law. As a prosecutor Harpootlian earned convictions in the prosecutions of Pee Wee Gaskins and Jim Holderman.[1][2] He ran for attorney general in 1994 losing to Charlie Condon in the general election.[3]

Harpootlian served as the Chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party twice.[4] He is credited for the South Carolina Democratic Party's decision to move the South Carolina primary earlier in the primary schedule.[5]

South Carolina Senate

Election

On June 4, 2018, John E. Courson resigned his senate seat after pleading guilty to mishandling campaign funds.[6] Courson's resignation was related to the "Quinndom" led by David Pascoe which found multiple instances of wrongdoing in the South Carolina General Assembly. In November 2018, Harpootlian defeated Benjamin Dunn in a special election for Courson's old senate seat.[7] It was the first time in 14 years a Democrat flipped a Republican-held Senate seat.[8]

Political views in the Senate

Since joining the Senate, Harpootlian has been critical of the University of South Carolina's hiring practices and legislation giving the Carolina Panthers tax incentives to move their headquarters to Rock Hill, South Carolina. In May 2019, Harpootlian commissioned his own independent analysis on the economic benefits of moving the Panthers headquarters to Rock Hill. The report found that the added jobs to the area were a third of what the state of South Carolina's review found. Harpootlian stalled the Senate vote on the measure although it later passed.[9]

In November of 2019 Harpootlian was criticized for profanely threatening to have an aide of the Richland County Legislation Delegation fired over a press release which failed to include job openings at the Columbia airport.[10] In December of 2019 he called the university's search for the president's next chief of staff "cronyism at its finest."[11] Harpootlian came out against a bill in the senate which would legalize curbside pickup for alcohol products in January of 2020.[12]

Democratic Party presidential primaries

Endorsements

During the 2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries, Harpootlian stated that he was a "Joe Biden guy."[13] He endorsed Bernie Sanders for President on February 3, 2016, comparing Sanders' passion with the kind Obama exuded in 2007 when they had first met."[14] In 2020, Harpootlian endorsed Joe Biden for President, stating "If the Democratic Party believes nominating a socialist is the way to win in November, they need to start drug testing at the national committee" in reference to Sanders. [15]

Controversies

In September 2012, Harpootlian drew controversy when he compared then-governor Nikki Haley to Eva Braun, the mistress of Adolf Hitler. The remarks were condemned by Norm Coleman, the chair of the Jewish coalition of Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, who accused him of "trivializing Nazism".[16] Harpootlian drew further controversy in 2013 for remarks he made at the annual Jackson-Jefferson dinner of the state Democratic Party, where he said that they needed to "send Nikki Haley back to wherever the hell she came from"; Haley is Indian-American with Sikh heritage, and her parents immigrated from India. A Haley campaign spokeswoman criticized the remarks as targeting her ethnicity.[17] Harpootlian's remarks were condemned as racist or xenophobic by Indian news outlets India Today, Firstpost, and Outlook.[18][19][20] Harpootlian later apologized, claiming that he did not intend to target her ethnicity and that he wanted her to "go back to being an accountant in a dress store rather than being this fraud of a governor that we have".[17]

On February 5, 2020 Harpootlian tweeted that the Black Caucus Chairman of the South Carolina House, Jerry Govan Jr., received "almost $50,000" from the Tom Steyer Presidential campaign for campaign services.[21] Harpootlian referred to Steyer as "Mr. Moneybags" and suggested that he had purchased Govan's support.[22] Later that day, members of the South Carolina House Black Caucus held a press conference asking Biden to distance himself from Harpootlian.[23] Later that day, Steyer accused Harpootlian of having "“a horrid track record of disrespecting and disparaging African Americans."[21] Steyer also asked Biden to disavow Dick Harpootlian and what he said during a 2020 Democratic Party presidential debate in New Hampshire. Harpootlian denied that his comments were racially motivated,[24] State Sen. Marlon Kimpson, a Black Caucus member, noted that the press conference was not held by the caucus itself, but by Govan and his supporters; some caucus members, including Kimpson, did not participate. Kimpson, a Biden supporter, characterized the controversy as an outgrowth of personal feuds between state lawmakers.[25]

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References
  1. Press, The Associated (1991-10-23). "University Ex-President Is Target of Sex Charge". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-04-13.
  2. Harris, Art (June 23, 1983). "The Seeds of Vengeance". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2019-04-03.
  3. "AllPolitics - The Postpartum Prosecutor - Dec. 15, 1997". www.cnn.com. Retrieved 2019-04-13.
  4. Weiner, Rachel (2011-04-04). "Dick Harpootlian: Return of the King?". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2019-04-13.
  5. Writer, JIM DAVENPORT, Associated Press. "Acid-tongued Harpootlian hands over S.C. Democratic Party reins". The Times and Democrat. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  6. "Richland Sen. John Courson Enters Guilty Plea, Resigns from Office". WLTX. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  7. "Democrat Dick Harpootlian wins special election for South Carolina Senate District 20". WLTX. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  8. jcranney@postandcourier.com, Joseph Cranney. "Former SC Democratic leader bringing 'aggressive' style to state Senate". Post and Courier. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  9. "Carolina Panthers Offered $120M to move practice field to SC".
  10. "Richland senator accused of threatening county employee's job in profanity-laced rant". The State. November 26, 2019.
  11. "USC opens another brief search for a top executive. This time it's for chief of staff". The State. December 5, 2019.
  12. Bohatch, Emily (January 22, 2020). "SC bill to make alcohol delivery and curbside pick up legal moves forward". The State.
  13. January 14, Ian SchwartzOn Date; 2016. "Former SC Dem Chairman Harpootlian: "I'm A Joe Biden Guy"". www.realclearpolitics.com. Retrieved 2020-02-02.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. https://www.cnn.com/2016/02/03/politics/bernie-sanders-richard-harpootlian-south-carolina/index.html
  15. https://www.thedailybeast.com/worried-democratic-operatives-scramble-to-fund-a-network-to-take-down-bernie-sanders
  16. "Dick Harpootlian Compares Nikki Haley To Hitler's Mistress Eva Braun [UPDATED]". Huffington Post. September 5, 2012. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  17. Martin, Jonathan (May 4, 2013). "Dem S.C. chair defends Haley barb". Politico. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  18. "US Democrat Leader Under Fire for Insulting Nikki Haley". Outlook. May 5, 2013. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  19. "Nikki Haley faces racist attack on her Indian roots". Firstpost. May 7, 2013. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  20. "Nikki Haley faces racist attack from Democrat Dick Harpootlian". India Today. May 7, 2013. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  21. "Black lawmakers call Biden surrogate's comments racist, demand former VP disavow". NBC News. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  22. Lovegrove, Jamie. "Steyer, Biden feud on debate stage over SC legislator's remarks about campaign payments". Post and Courier. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  23. Press, The Associated (2020-02-05). "Black Lawmakers Demand Biden Disavow Surrogate's Comments". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  24. "Here's what Tom Steyer was attacking Joe Biden over during Friday night's debate". theweek.com. 2020-02-07. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  25. jlovegrove@postandcourier.com, Jamie Lovegrove. "Steyer, Biden feud on debate stage over SC legislator's remarks about campaign payments". Post and Courier. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
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