SC Gov. Haley Announces Tim Scott as DeMint Successor

UPDATE: Haley has announced Tim Scott as DeMint Successor.

(AP) SC Gov. Haley to announce Sen. DeMint’s successor

By SEANNA ADCOX
Associated Press
COLUMBIA, S.C.
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is announcing a replacement for U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint.

Haley spokesman Rob Godfrey says Haley will make the announcement at noon Monday at the Statehouse.

State law gives the Republican governor the authority to pick DeMint’s successor. DeMint announced less than two weeks ago that he would resign Jan. 1 to take the helm of a national conservative think tank.

Haley’s appointee will fill the seat until 2014, when voters will choose who will fill the remaining two years of DeMint’s term.

Haley’s five finalists are reportedly former first lady Jenny Sanford, U.S. Reps. Tim Scott and Trey Gowdy, former Attorney General Henry McMaster and state health agency director Catherine Templeton.