Rep. James Clyburn (D) Elected 1992, 7th term
Born:	July 21, 1940, Sumter
Home:	Columbia
Education:	SC St. U., B.A. 1962
Religion:	African Methodist Episcopal
Marital Status:	married (Emily)
Professional Career:	Teacher, 1962-66; Dir., Charleston Neighborhood Youth Corps, 1966-68; Exec. Dir., SC Comm. for Farm Workers, 1968-71; Asst., SC Gov. West, 1971-74; SC Human Affairs Comm., 1974-92.
DC Office	2135 RHOB20515, 202-225-3315; Fax: 202-225-2313; Web site: www.house.gov/clyburn
State Offices	Columbia, 803-799-1100; Florence, 843-622-1212; Santee, 803-854-4700.
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South Carolina was first settled by planters from Barbados, bringing with them a tropical plantation economy, which they transferred to the not-quite-tropical climate of the Carolina coastal lowlands. Here the flat Low Country and many islands are laced with sluggish-flowing rivers and swamps, and here the planters brought thousands of slaves directly from Africa. Colonial South Carolina was one of the richest parts of North America, with dazzling Georgian architecture in Charleston and classic plantation gardens; the planters built great irrigation systems and grew rice and cotton and the dye-plant indigo, all heavily in demand in Britain and elsewhere. All this wealth, of course, was built on the slave labor of countless African Americans. In colonial times, a majority of South Carolinians were slaves, as were a majority of lowlands residents when Fort Sumter was fired upon (although there were also many free blacks in Charleston, a few of whom owned slaves themselves). South Carolina's black heritage has left a lasting imprint on American culture, and the African-influenced Gullah language still can be heard here. The poverty that was the almost universal lot of lowland blacks after the Civil War has eased only in the last generation, as development came to the coast and long cultural isolation dissipated. But many blacks decided not to wait, abandoning South Carolina for opportunities in the North. Today, heavily black rural counties are suffering steeper losses in manufacturing jobs than urban areas are.

The 6th Congressional District of South Carolina, created in 1992 as a black-majority district, includes only a bit of the South Carolina coast, which is increasingly lined with affluent retirement and recreational communities. The district's boundaries, less jagged since the 2002 redistricting, take in the black central city neighborhoods of Charleston, North Charleston and Columbia but leave their affluent white areas, both urban and suburban, in the adjacent 1st and 2d Districts. The 6th includes Orangeburg, home of the historically black South Carolina State University, and Florence, at the center of the Pee Dee tobacco-growing country in eastern South Carolina. The 6th's population in 2000 was 57% black, and in 2004 it gave George W. Bush only 39% of the vote--the only South Carolina district he failed to carry.

The congressman from the 6th District is James Clyburn, a Democrat first elected in 1992. Clyburn grew up in Sumter, the son of a minister. In 1960 he was one of seven young people who organized the state's first sit-ins, at a five-and-dime store in the Orangeburg town square; in February 2001, Governor Jim Hodges apologized for the massacre that took place there in 1968, when highway patrolmen killed three protesters and wounded 27 others. Clyburn worked as a teacher, in government antipoverty programs and on the staff of Governor John West. In 1974 he became state Human Affairs commissioner, serving 18 years under Republican and Democratic governors. Twice he ran for secretary of state, losing narrowly. Then the new, black-majority 6th District was created. The white incumbent, Democrat Robin Tallon, at the last minute decided not to run. Clyburn did, and in the Democratic primary won 56% of the vote against four black opponents, all with serious claims for the nomination. Clyburn, well known statewide, ran first or second in every part of the district and piled up 88% of the vote in his home county of Sumter.

Clyburn, the only black to represent South Carolina in Congress since 1897, has a moderate-to-liberal voting record. He has good working relationships with leading businessmen and Republicans and--like many South Carolinians before him--has focused on local priorities first. He supported the balanced budget amendment and joined the moderate New Democrat Coalition at its inception in 1997, the only black House member to do so. When cigarette tax increases were proposed, he urged safeguards for tobacco farmers. In September 2004 and March 2005, the House passed his bill to create a Gullah/Geechee Heritage Corridor from northern Florida to North Carolina.

On the Appropriations Committee, he has focused on local projects. As chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus in 1999, he urged the Democratic National Committee to become more responsive to blacks; he also sought to create a Policy and Leadership Institute for the Black Caucus to develop new liberal positions and protect black lawmakers in redistricting. After the 2002 election he won a three-candidate contest to become vice-chairman of the Democratic Caucus with 95 votes to 56 for Gregory Meeks and 53 for Zoe Lofgren. He said the leadership needed to reflect the party's diversity and not "just white men." In 2003, he demanded an apology after Tom DeLay said that minority Democrats in Texas were "more Democrat than they are minority" if they turn down his offer for additional minority districts from redistricting. "We have long and sordid experiences with policies and practices that are acted upon purportedly on our behalf without our inclusion in the process," he said. Clyburn is poised to move higher on the leadership ladder. In 2006 Bob Menendez is ineligible for a third term as Democratic Caucus Chairman (and may be running for the Senate), and in early 2005 Clyburn seemed the frontrunner to succeed him.

Back home Clyburn has not faced serious opposition for reelection. He has relished his role as a major player and potential kingmaker in the state's often pivotal Democratic presidential primary. Blacks cast about half the votes in the primary, and Clyburn is the most prominent black politician in the state. He first backed Dick Gephardt in December 2003, with whom he had worked in the House. But Gephardt withdrew after the Iowa caucuses, and Clyburn endorsed frontrunner John Kerry rather than South Carolina native John Edwards.

Committees

• Democratic Caucus Vice Chairman
.
• Appropriations (19th of 29 D): Energy & Water Development & Related Agencies; Transportation, Treasury, HUD, the Judiciary & District of Columbia.

Group Ratings (More Info)
	ADA	ACLU	AFS	LCV	ITIC	NTU	COC	ACU	NTLC	CHC
2004	90	65	71	100	40	10	45	13	3	8	--
2003	90	--	100	85	--	21	39	21	--	--	--

National Journal Ratings (More Info)
	2003 LIB	--	2003 CONS		2004 LIB	--	2004 CONS
Economic	76%	--	23%		71%	--	29%
Social	74%	--	25%		66%	--	33%
Foreign	93%	--	6%		74%	--	25%
For National Journal's complete 2004 Vote Ratings, as well as previous ratings dating back to 1995, please click here.

Key Votes Of The 108th Congress (More Info)
1. Drilling in ANWR N 2. Approve Bush Tax Cuts N 3. Medicare/Rx Bill N 4. Bar Overtime Pay Regs. * 5. DC School Vouchers N 6. Ban Human Cloning N		7. Restrict Gun Liability N  8. Ban Partial-Birth Abortion N  9. Ban Same-Sex Marriage N 10. Fund Iraq War N 11. Bar Cuba Embargo Funds Y 12. Intelligence Reorg. Y

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2004 general	James Clyburn (D)	161,987	67%	$725,832
	Gary McLeod (R)	75,443	31%	$3,927
	Other	4,157	2%
2004 primary	James Clyburn (D)	unopposed
2002 general	James Clyburn (D)	116,586	67%	$398,652
	Gary McLeod (R)	55,760	32%	$10,616
Prior winning percentages: 2000 (72%); 1998 (73%); 1996 (69%); 1994 (64%); 1992 (65%)

2004 Presidential Vote Kerry (D) 151,061 (61%) Bush (R) 97,248 (39%)

2000 Presidential Vote Gore (D) 126,287 (58%) Bush (R) 87,252 (40%)

For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the Sixth District, please see the Almanac 2000 online. Please note that these older returns reflect district lines as they existed prior to 2002 redistricting.

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: D +11
• District Size: 8,490 square miles
• Population in 2000: 668,670; 48.0% urban; 52.0% rural
• Median Household Income: $28,967; 22.4% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 33.0% blue collar; 48.1% white collar; 18.9% gray collar; 12.4% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 40.3% White, 56.7% Black, 0.5% Asian, 0.3% Amer. Indian, 0.0% Hawaiian, 0.7% Two+ races, 0.1% Other, 1.5% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 9.0% USA, 4.1% English, 3.7% German
• Click here for statewide demographic data.