Jeff Duncan (politician)

Jeff Duncan
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina's 3rd district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2011
Preceded by	Gresham Barrett
Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from the 15th district
In office January 14, 2003 – January 3, 2011
Preceded by	Donny Wilder
Succeeded by	David Tribble
Personal details
Born	Jeffrey Darren Duncan (1966-01-07) January 7, 1966 (age 55) Greenville, South Carolina, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Melody Hodges ​ (m. 1988)​
Children	3
Education	Clemson University (BA)
Website	House website

Jeffrey Darren Duncan (born January 7, 1966) is an American politician serving as the U.S. Representative for South Carolina's 3rd congressional district since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, his district covers the northwestern part of the state. Duncan served as the South Carolina State Representative for the 15th district from 2003 to 2011.

Early life, education, and business career[]

Jeff Duncan was born in Greenville, South Carolina, on January 7, 1966.^[1] His father worked in the textile business and moved the family across the South while Duncan was growing up. After attending three years of high school at Mooresville Senior High School in Mooresville, North Carolina, Duncan moved to Ware Shoals and attended Ware Shoals High School. During his senior year of high school, he met his future wife, Melody Hodges. In 1988, Duncan graduated from Clemson University, where he walked on as a wide receiver on the football team, but never made the playing roster and quit before the end of the season. His experience as a walk-on player was later the inspiration for the blog, "Walk-On Legislator", he used to communicate with constituents while serving in the South Carolina General Assembly.

After graduation, Duncan served as branch manager and an assistant vice president during his seven years working in community banking. Later, he started his own small business, J. Duncan & Associates, a South Carolina-based, family-owned real estate marketing firm that specialized in statewide real estate auctions.^[2] He ran and operated that business until his election to Congress in 2010.

South Carolina House of Representatives[]

Duncan ran for South Carolina's 15th House District in 2002. In the Republican primary, he defeated Clinton County councilman David Tribble Jr., 56%–44%.^[3] He won the general election with 62% of the vote.^[4] In 2004, he was reelected unopposed.^[5] In 2006, he was reelected to a third term with 63% of the vote.^[6] In 2008, he was reelected to a fourth term unopposed.^[7] In 2010, he retired in order to run for the U.S. House of Representatives. Tribble, Duncan's primary opponent in 2002, won Duncan's seat.

Duncan chaired the House Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee, the Education Finance Study Committee, and the Natural Gas Offshore Drilling Study Committee. He was South Carolina's representative on the Southern States Energy Board.^[8]

U.S. House of Representatives[]

Elections[]

2010[]

Duncan ran for South Carolina's 3rd congressional district when incumbent U.S. representative J. Gresham Barrett ran for governor of South Carolina. He was an early Tea Party favorite and endorsed by the Club for Growth^[9] and the National Right to Life Committee.^[10] In the Republican primary, businessman Richard Cash finished first with 25% of the vote. Duncan finished second in the six-candidate field with 23%.^[11] In the runoff election, Duncan defeated Cash, 51%–49%, a margin of 2,171 votes. He won five of the district's ten counties, mostly in the district's southern part.^[12] He won the general election with 62% of the vote, 2% less than John McCain's 64% vote in 2008. He won nine of the district's ten counties, losing just McCormick (52%–47%). Duncan spent $935,503 to Democratic nominee Jane Ballard Dyer's $272,698.^[13][14]

2012[]

Duncan was reelected in the newly redrawn 3rd district, which excludes Aiken County (McCain won with 62%),^[15] and includes two new counties: Newberry (McCain won with 58%) and Greenville (McCain won with 57%). He received 67% of the vote.^[16]

2014[]

Duncan was reelected with 71.18% of the vote against Democratic nominee Barbara Jo Mullis.^[17]

2016[]

Duncan was reelected with 72.8% of the vote against Democratic nominee Hosea Cleveland. He was the first Congressional Republican to carry McCormick County during a presidential election year, outperforming Trump by over 5%.

2018[]

Duncan was reelected with 67.79% of the vote against Democratic nominee Mary Geren and American Party nominee Dave Moore.^[18]

2020[]

Duncan was reelected with 71.21% of the vote against Democratic nominee Hosea Cleveland.^[19]

Committee assignments[]

• Committee on Energy and Commerce
  • Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection
  • Subcommittee on Energy
  • Subcommittee on Environment

Caucus memberships[]

• United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus^[20]
• Freedom Caucus^[21]
• Congressional Western Caucus^[22]
• U.S.-Japan Caucus^[23]
• Second Amendment Caucus
• Republican Study Committee^[24]

Political positions[]

Duncan is a Tea Party Republican.^[25] As of 30 January 2018, he has the most conservative GovTrack ideology score in the House of Representatives.^[26]

Abortion[]

Duncan opposes abortion.^[27]

Guns[]

He supports gun rights. In addition to introducing the Hearing Protection Act,^[28] Duncan has cosponsored bills to expand concealed carry reciprocity rights. He is a Lifetime Member of the NRA and has been endorsed by the NRA and given an A rating.^[29]

Taxes[]

He voted for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.^[30] He also cosponsored legislation to repeal the income tax, the estate tax, and the entirety of the tax code.^[31]

Infrastructure[]

Duncan supports federal infrastructure, but believes states should have control over their transportation decisions and this will provide more relief from government regulation.

Healthcare[]

Duncan supported the full repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, voting on numerous occasions to repeal it in whole or in part. He supports replacing it with free market solutions, having cosponsored legislation to expand health savings accounts, make all health care spending tax deductible, supporting Christian charity health plans, and creating association health plans.

Immigration[]

Duncan opposes a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. He supports the construction of a border wall with physical fencing, surveillance technology, and increased border patrol agents on the ground. In February 2017, Duncan introduced the Terrorist Deportation Act (H.R. 844),^[32] which makes it harder for suspected terrorists to come to the United States and remove those who are already here.^[1] Duncan is also a cosponsor of "Goodlatte/McCaul", H.R. 4760,^[33] which requires mandatory E-verify, makes it a crime to overstay a visa, eliminates chain migration, ends the diversity lottery, and creates an agriculture work visa program.

Energy[]

Duncan is a supporter of a free-market, all-of-the-above approach to energy, and has been a champion for both national and hemispheric energy independence. Duncan sponsored the legislation to implement the Outer Continental Shelf Transboundary Hydrocarbon Agreements Authorization Act. He has also cosponsored legislation supporting offshore energy exploration, seismic testing, clean coal technology, nuclear energy production, and the export of natural gas. Duncan has also worked to ease regulations on hydraulic fracturing, coal ash, the Social Cost of Carbon, and the Clean Water Rule. Duncan supported the Department of the Interior and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's January 2018 decision to allow more access to the Outer Continental Shelf.

Syria[]

In 2019, Duncan signed a letter led by Representative Ro Khanna and Senator Rand Paul to President Trump asserting that it is "long past time to rein in the use of force that goes beyond congressional authorization" and that they hoped this would "serve as a model for ending hostilities in the future—in particular, as you and your administration seek a political solution to our involvement in Afghanistan.”^[34][35]

In 2019, Duncan was one of 60 representatives to vote against condemning Trump's withdrawal from Syria.^[36]

Foreign policy[]

In 2020, Duncan voted against the National Defense Authorization Act of 2021, which would prevent the president from withdrawing soldiers from Afghanistan without congressional approval.^[37]

In July 2021, Duncan voted against the bipartisan ALLIES Act, which would increase by 8,000 the number of special immigrant visas for Afghan allies of the U.S. military during its invasion of Afghanistan, while also reducing some application requirements that caused long application backlogs; the bill passed in the House 407–16.^[38]

Texas v. Pennsylvania[]

In December 2020, Duncan was one of 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives to sign an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Joe Biden defeated^[39] Trump. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Constitution to challenge the results of an election held by another state.^[40][41][42]

Personal life[]

Duncan is married to Melody (Hodges) Duncan, and has three sons. He lives in Laurens, South Carolina.^[43][1][13]

Congressional baseball shooting[]

According to Duncan, the shooter, James Thomas Hodgkinson, approached him at his car and asked if Democrats or Republicans were on the field. Duncan told reporters later, "The world changed a little bit today for us as members".^[44]

References[]

External links[]

• Congressman Jeff Duncan official U.S. House website
• Jeff Duncan for Congress
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Jeff Duncan at Curlie
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress