Archie Parnell

Archie Parnell
Personal details
Born 1950/1951 (age 67–68)[1]
Sumter, South Carolina, U.S.
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Sarah Parnell
Education University of South Carolina (BA, JD)
Georgetown University (LLM)
Website Campaign website

Archie William Parnell Jr. is an American attorney and politician. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for the June 20, 2017, special election for South Carolina's 5th congressional district of the United States House of Representatives. He lost the election to Republican Ralph Norman, receiving approximately 48% of the vote in the general election,[2] an unexpectedly close margin.[3]

Early life, education and career

Parnell grew up in Sumter, South Carolina, where he still resides.[1] He attended the University of South Carolina where he earned a bachelor's degree and a law degree.

He worked as a tax attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice and for the House Ways & Means Committee.[4]

Parnell worked for Goldman Sachs, largely in Hong Kong, and for Exxon Mobil.[4][5][6][7] He retired prior to declaring his intention to run for Congress.

Politics

Former district representative John Spratt endorsed Parnell in the May 2017 Democratic primary, which Parnell won with 71% of the vote.[8]

A number of television advertisements of Parnell's drew national media notice. In it, he imitated the fictional character Frank Underwood, who represents what appears to be the South Carolina 5th district in the television show House of Cards.[9]

A Politico analysis attributed Parnell's relatively high vote percentage, given the district and the special election timing, to his humble, positive, and funny ad messages, and his avoidance of standard partisan conflicts and rhetoric. Parnell spent approximately $500,000 on his campaign through the end of May 2017. In addition to his unique advertising and campaign strategy, his close margin has been attributed, in part, to low Republican turnout.[7]

On October 9th, 2017, Parnell announced that he will challenge Congressman Ralph Norman, his former opponent, in the 2018 election for Congress from South Carolina's 5th congressional district.[10]

Domestic violence controversy

On May 21, 2018, a story[11] in the Charleston Post and Courier revealed the discovery of court documents[12] from Parnell's previously undisclosed 1973 divorce. Parnell's wife was granted a restraining order and a divorce "on the ground of physical cruelty." No charges were filed. Parnell did not challenge the statements at the time or after their 2018 discovery. After the news story broke and caused widespread condemnation, high profile endorsers including Congressman Jim Clyburn and party officials called on Parnell to withdraw from the race. Despite the allegations, on June 12, 2018, Parnell won a four-way Democratic primary with approximately 60% of the vote.[13]

References

  1. 1 2 Marans, Daniel. "Archie Parnell Wins Democratic Primary In Race To Flip South Carolina District". Huffington Post. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  2. ↑ Kinnard, Meg (2017-06-21). "Republican aligned with Trump wins South Carolina House seat". Washington Post (AP).
  3. ↑ Tara Golshan. Last night's South Carolina special election is a danger sign for House Republicans Vox. 21 June 2017
  4. 1 2 Meet Archie at Parnell 2017 campaign web site
  5. ↑ Kevin Robillard. Democrat gets head start in deep-red special election to replace Mulvaney. Politico. 2 May 2017
  6. ↑ Weigel, Dave (2017-06-21). "In South Carolina special election, Democrats try for another GOP House seat". Washington Post.
  7. 1 2 Bill Scher. How Archie Parnell Ran the Best Democratic Campaign of 2017 Politico. 21 June 2017
  8. ↑ Brandon Finnigan. South Carolina 5th Congressional District Democratic Primary. Decision Desk HQ. 1 May 2017
  9. ↑ Emily Tillett. Archie Parnell, South Carolina Democrat, channels Frank Underwood in campaign ad. CBS News, 31 May 2017
  10. ↑ Kropf, Schuyler. "Sumter Democrat Archie Parnell running for Congress again vs. Republican Ralph Norman". postandcourier.com. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  11. ↑ Lovegrove, Jamie. "Top South Carolina candidate refuses to quit congressional race after abuse discovery". Post and Courier. Retrieved 2018-06-09.
  12. ↑ "Archie Parnell divorce court documents". Post and Courier. Retrieved 2018-06-09.
  13. ↑ http://www.enr-scvotes.org/SC/75708/Web02-state.203322/#/
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.