Who is Jim DeMint?

DeMint was the only Republican senator to endorse O'Donnell over Castle in the Delaware election, as Rush mentioned on his program yesterday.

From Wikipedia:
James Warren "Jim" DeMint (born September 2, 1951) has been a United States Senator from South Carolina since 2005. He had previously represented South Carolina's 4th congressional district from 1999 to 2005. DeMint is ranked by some as one of the most conservative members of the Senate.

Early life, education and career
DeMint was born in Greenville, South Carolina, one of four children. DeMint's parents, Betty W. (née Rawlings) and Thomas Eugene DeMint, divorced when he was five. His mother operated a dance studio. DeMint was educated at Christ Church Episcopal School and Wade Hampton High School in Greenville. DeMint played drums for a cover band called Salt & Pepper. He received a bachelor's degree from the University of Tennessee and an M.B.A. from Clemson University.

Prior to entering politics, DeMint worked in the field of market research. In 1983, he founded his own research firm, the DeMint Group. He was president of this corporation until 1998 when he entered Congress.

U.S. Senate
Committee assignments
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Subcommittee on Economic Policy (Ranking Member)
Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development
Subcommittee on Financial Institutions
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security (Ranking Member)
Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet
Subcommittee on Competitiveness, Innovation, and Export Promotion
Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance
Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety and Security
Committee on Foreign Relations
Subcommittee on African Affairs
Subcommittee on International Operations and Organizations, Democracy and Human Rights
Subcommittee on European Affairs (Ranking Member)
Subcommittee on International Development and Foreign Assistance, Economic Affairs and International Environmental Protection
Joint Economic Committee
Impeachment Trial Committee on the Articles against Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr.

Political positions
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DeMint's main work has been opposing the increase of Federal government spending, both under the Bush and Obama Administrations. He was opposed to federal bailouts for banks and other corporations. For his stances on budgetary issues, DeMint has been strongly supported by the conservative political group Club for Growth. He was ranked as the most conservative United States Senator by National Journal in 2007 and 2008.

Senator DeMint has been a consistent supporter of school prayer and has introduced legislation that would allow schools to display banners such as one stating "God Bless America".

Senator DeMint opposes abortion except in the case of the mother's life being endangered.

Senator DeMint is a member of the C Street Family, a Christian prayer group which includes many prominent Republican and Democratic members of Congress.

On the issue of immigration, Senator DeMint favors requiring all illegal immigrants in the United States to return to their home countries and apply for legal residency. He is in favor of establishing English as the country's official language.

On February 6, 2008 Senator DeMint was joined by senators Saxby Chambliss, Tom Coburn, John Cornyn, James Inhofe, and David Vitter for the introduction of the Semper Fi Act of 2008 which would strip federal funding from Berkeley, California in response to the Berkeley Marine Corps Recruiting Center controversy. The bill would have eliminated $2.1 million in earmarks for the city and the University of California, Berkeley and would have instead directed the funds to the Marine Corps Recruiting Fund. The bill was defeated by a 74-25 vote, however the Mayor of Berkeley eventually apologized to the Marines for the city's actions.

Senator DeMint was one of two Senators, along with David Vitter, to vote against Hillary Clinton's confirmation to become the United States Secretary of State.

Senator DeMint went to Honduras in 2009 and met with de facto president Roberto Micheletti, a meeting that was opposed by President Obama's administration. The United States officially viewed ousted president Manuel Zelaya as the legitimately elected president.

Following an attempted terrorist attack on December 25, 2009, DeMint criticized President Barack Obama for lacking focus on terrorism since taking office and for failing to appoint a head of the Transportation Security Administration, even though Senator DeMint had blocked President Obama's nominee to head this administration 3 times before.

Political campaigns
1998 through 2002
In 1998, Fourth District Congressman Bob Inglis kept his promise to serve only three terms, by running against Senator Fritz Hollings. DeMint won the Republican primary for the district, which includes Greenville and Spartanburg. He then went on to win the general election in November. The district is considered the most Republican in the state, and he did not face a serious or well-funded Democratic opponent in 1998 or in his two re-election campaigns in 2000 and 2002.

2004
DeMint declared his candidacy for the Senate on December 12, 2002, after Hollings announced that he would retire after the 2004 elections. DeMint was supposedly the White House's preferred candidate in the Republican primary.

In the Republican primary on June 8, 2004 DeMint placed a distant second, 18 percentage points behind former governor David Beasley. DeMint won the runoff handily, however.

DeMint then faced Democratic state education superintendent Inez Tenenbaum in the November general election. DeMint led Tenenbaum through much of the campaign and ultimately defeated her by 9.6 percentage points. DeMint's win meant that South Carolina was represented by two Republican Senators for the first time since Reconstruction, when Thomas J. Robertson and John J. Patterson served together as Senators.

DeMint stirred controversy during debates with Tenenbaum when he stated his belief that openly gay people should not be allowed to teach in public schools. When questioned by reporters, DeMint also stated that single mothers who live with their boyfriends should similarly be excluded from being educators. He later apologized for making the remarks, saying they were "distracting from the main issues of the debate." He also noted that these were opinions based on his personal values, not issues he would or could deal with as a member of Congress.

In a 2008 interview, he said that while government does not have the right to restrict homosexuality, it also should not encourage it through legalizing same-sex marriage, due to the "costly secondary consequences" to society from the prevalence of certain diseases among homosexuals.

2010
DeMint won re-nomination in the Republican Party primary. Democratic Party opponent Alvin Greene won an upset victory over Vic Rawl, who was heavily favored. Due to various electoral discrepancies, Greene is receiving scrutiny from Democratic Party officials, with some calling for Greene to withdraw or be replaced.

Tom Clements is the nominee of the South Carolina Green Party, and will be the only third party candidate on the ballot.

Campaign finances
From 2001 to 2006, DeMint’s largest campaign donors came from retired individuals ($877,062 in donations) and health professionals ($612,923). From 2003 to 2008, his largest donors once again came from retired individuals ($997,861) and health professionals ($697,986).

Personal life
DeMint married his high school sweetheart, Debbie Henderson, on September 1, 1973; the couple has four children.

Works
Jim DeMint, Saving Freedom: We Can Stop America's Slide into Socialism (Fidelis, Nashville, 2009)