Harvey S. Peeler Jr.
Harvey Peeler | |
|---|---|
| President of the South Carolina Senate | |
| In office January 8, 2019 – December 6, 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Kevin L. Bryant (Lieutenant Governor) Hugh Leatherman (President pro tempore) |
| Succeeded by | Thomas C. Alexander |
| Member of the South Carolina Senate from the 14th district | |
| Assumed office January 8, 1985 | |
| Preceded by | Rembert Dennis |
| Member of the South Carolina Senate from the 5th district | |
| In office January 14, 1981 – January 8, 1985 Serving with Robert Lake | |
| Preceded by | John Long |
| Succeeded by | Jefferson Smith |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 8, 1948 Gaffney, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic (before 1989) Republican (1989–present) |
| Spouse(s) | Ila LaDonna |
| Education | Clemson University (BS) |
Harvey S. Peeler Jr. (born September 8, 1948) is an American politician.[1][2] He is a member of the South Carolina Senate, representing the 14th District from since 1981, initially as a Democrat, and from October 1989, as a Republican. He was the Senate Majority Leader from 2005 to 2016[1] and president of the senate from 2019 to 2021.
Early life and career[]
He was born on September 8, 1948 in Gaffney, South Carolina.[1] He received a Bachelor of Science from Clemson University in 1970.[1][2] He served as a lieutenant in the United States Army from 1970 to 1972.[1]
Political career[]
He has served as a state senator for South Carolina since 1981, and as Senate Majority Leader from 2005 to 2016.[1][2] In Peeler's first year in the state senate, he formed a voting bloc with Hugh Leatherman.[3] In 1989, he was one of five Democratic South Carolina legislators to switch to the Republican Party from the Democratic.[4]
He has served as chairman of the Senate Medical Affairs Committee since 2001, and vice-chairman of the Senate Finance Committee since 2007.[1] He is the brother of former South Carolina Lieutenant Governor Bob Peeler.[1]
Confederate flag controversy[]
In 2015, after the shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, which killed fellow State Senator Clementa C. Pinckney, Peeler voted against removing the Confederate flag. Peeler compared removing it to "removing a tattoo from the corpse of a loved one and thinking that that would change the loved one's obituary".[5] He was one of only three state senators to vote against its removal, the other two being Danny Verdin and Lee Bright.[5][6] Fifteen years earlier, Peeler was one of only seven senators who voted against the flag's removal from the top of the South Carolina Capitol Dome and both chambers of the South Carolina Legislature to its present position on the capitol grounds, arguing that the flag's removal would only worsen race relations.[7] The 2000 vote was a compromise between anti- and pro-flag forces in the wake of an economic boycott of the state.[8]
Personal life[]
He married Ila LaDonna Caudill on August 8, 1969, and they have three children: Brantlee Rene, Harvey Smith III, and Boone Solomon.[1] He attends Gaffney First Baptist Church.[1] He is a Mason and a Shriner.[1]
He is a member of the and the American Legion.[1]
References[]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m South Carolina Senate biography
- ^ a b c d Official website
- ^ Wilks, Avery G.; Hobbs, Stephen (April 8, 2020). "How Hugh Leatherman took control of South Carolina's budget and built a political empire". Post and Courier. Retrieved 2020-10-16.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Politics: After 125 years, S.C. is becoming a two-party state". GoUpstate.com. Gannett Co., Inc. December 29, 1989. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
- ^ a b Roldan, Cynthia; Kropf, Schuyler (6 July 2015). "S.C. Senate: Flag needs to come down; House vote next". The Post and Courier. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
To remove the flag from the Statehouse grounds and thinking it would change history would be like removing a tattoo from the corpse of a loved one and thinking that that would change the loved one’s obituary. That won't change history.
- ^ Smith, Tim (6 July 2015). "Senate gives approval to remove Confederate flag; Third reading tomorrow". Greenville News. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
- ^ Firestone, David. "S. Carolina Senate Votes To Remove Confederate Flag". The New York Times on the Web. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
- ^ Braun, Stephen (13 April 2000). "South Carolina Senate Moves to End Stalemate on Confederate Flag". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
External links[]
- 1948 births
- 21st-century American politicians
- American Freemasons
- Clemson University alumni
- Dairy farmers
- Living people
- People from Gaffney, South Carolina
- South Carolina Republicans
- South Carolina state senators