U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, the Greenville archconservative, said today that he will resign from the Senate in January to become president of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
Gov. Nikki Haley will name DeMint’s successor who will serve until 2014, when a special election would be held to fill the final two years of Republican DeMint’s six-year term, the same time U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham is up for re-election.
Immediate speculation turned to U.S. Rep. Tim Scott, R-North Charleston, who, like DeMint, is a Tea Party favorite. Scott also is the only Republican African-American in the U.S. House.