Stephen Colbert's sister to run for Congress
EXCLUSIVE: Elizabeth Colbert-Busch is Running for Congress
COLUMBIA, SC -- Patch has confirmed that Elizabeth Colbert-Busch, the sister of comedian Stephen Colbert, will seek the Democratic nomination for the First Congressional District.
She will file her candidacy papers on Tuesday according Amanda Loveday, Executive Director of the South Carolina Democratic Party.
Colbert-Busch is the Director of Sales and Marketing for Clemson University’s Wind Turbine Drivetrain Testing Facility. Previously, she was the Director of Business Development for Clemson University’s Restoration Institute. The Mount Pleasant resident has three children and two grandchildren and deep ties to the Lowcountry. This will be her first foray into public life.
Based on name recognition and her ability to compete financially, Colbert-Busch’s entry gives the Democrats a chance to win a House seat that has long been Republican. It gave Mitt Romney 58 percent of its vote last November. The filing period begins today and lasts until Jan. 28.
Including Colbert-Busch, seven Republicans and three Democrats have confirmed plans to run for the seat made vacant by Tim Scott’s appointment to the Senate. As of Friday morning, they are:
Former Gov. Mark Sanford (R)
Former State Sen. John Kuhn (R)
Teddy Turner (R)
Sen. Larry Grooms (R-37)
Rep. Andy Patrick (R-123)
Rep. Chip Limehouse (R-110)
Former Dorchester Co. Sheriff Ray Nash
Bobbie Rose (D)
Martin Skelly (D)
Sanford is the early favorite on the Republican side, but Republican insiders have told Patch they’re not sure he’s ready for the public stage so soon after the scandal that ended his marriage and forced him to repay the state of South Carolina more than $70,000. Should Sanford survive and emerge as the Republican nominee, the prospect of him squaring off against Colbert-Busch in a general election is sure to be riveting and will no doubt receive national attention.
Stephen Colbert raised hundreds of thousands of dollars via his own Super PAC for his own faux political aspirations. Speculation is already rampant as to whether or not Colbert will ramp up the Super PAC for his sister or appear in SC1 on her behalf.
The news rippled through the Palmetto State. Longtime political consultant Chip Felkel said, "The seat leans to the GOP and will likely remain so, but given her brother's celebrity, and her likely ability to capitilize on that in raising cash, it might mean the Democrats can be competitive. That said, it means that if GOP voters are serious about keeping the seat, they need to nominate a candidate who can weather a barrage of outside money in the general election."
Important Dates for the SC 1 Race:
Jan. 18 - Filing period opens and ends at noon on Jan. 28.
Feb. 16 - Last day to register to vote in primary.
April 6 - Last day to register to vote in general election.
March 19 - Primary Election Day.
April 2 - Run-off from primary. Top two finishers from primary in the event no one candidate receives 50 percent plus one of the total vote.
May 7 - General Election Day.
Stephen Colbert's Sister To Run For Congress
Stephen Colbert's dream of being appointed to replace South Carolina Rep. Tim Scott in Congress may not have come to fruition but that doesn't mean the Colbert clan has given up on representing the Palmetto State in the nation's Capitol. The Washington Post reports that the Comedy Central star's sister, Elizabeth Colbert-Busch, has informed the South Carolina Democratic Party that her soon-to-be-official campaign will file paperwork Tuesday to run in the special election to fill Scott's old seat.
Colbert-Bush is mostly an unknown quantity nationally, but this 2010 profile in the Charleston Post and Courier flagged by WaPo provides some interesting background:
Her father and two of her brothers were killed in a plane crash when she was 19. She was married to a man who ended up on “America’s Most Wanted.” And in 2001, while at a business conference in New York City, she was sitting in a building directly across the street from the World Trade Center when two jetliners slammed into its twin towers, forever changing the landscape of America.
But looking into her sparkling brown eyes, you’d never know this woman has seen enough tragedy for two lifetimes. Her infectious laugh fills the room as she talks about her children. Her face lights up every time she mentions Claus, her second husband and the man she calls the love of her life. And when she talks about her job, she speaks with a passion so great, you’d swear her boss was sitting next to her.
As director of business development for Clemson University’s Restoration Institute, Colbert-Busch is, for lack of a better term, the school’s corporate matchmaker. She finds companies that could benefit from the kind of advanced environmentally conscious research the university is doing - wind turbine testing, water studies, different kinds of renewable energy - and partners with them. More to the point, she asks them for money. In return, the corporations get the kind of cutting-edge information to help them stay one step ahead of the competition.
Former Gov. Mark Sanford (R-Appalachian Trail) has already announced he'll be running for the seat. Regardless of who Colbert-Busch squares off against in the general election (assuming, of course, she snags the Democratic nomination), she's expected to face an uphill battle given the congressional district skews heavily Republican. That said, her family connection clearly gives her an unusual advantage, and makes the race mighty hard to predict at this point.
BuzzFeed, which also confirmed the news about her plans, offers this helpful note about how she pronounces her last name: "phonetically, unlike her brother, who pronounces the surname with a silent 'T'."
Source 1
Source 2
I think I forgot the title the first time I submitted it mods, sorry :(
Included two articles because I thought both had something interesting to say about her and the other candidates. I would give almost anything to see her run against Sanford and win.
COLUMBIA, SC -- Patch has confirmed that Elizabeth Colbert-Busch, the sister of comedian Stephen Colbert, will seek the Democratic nomination for the First Congressional District.
She will file her candidacy papers on Tuesday according Amanda Loveday, Executive Director of the South Carolina Democratic Party.
Colbert-Busch is the Director of Sales and Marketing for Clemson University’s Wind Turbine Drivetrain Testing Facility. Previously, she was the Director of Business Development for Clemson University’s Restoration Institute. The Mount Pleasant resident has three children and two grandchildren and deep ties to the Lowcountry. This will be her first foray into public life.
Based on name recognition and her ability to compete financially, Colbert-Busch’s entry gives the Democrats a chance to win a House seat that has long been Republican. It gave Mitt Romney 58 percent of its vote last November. The filing period begins today and lasts until Jan. 28.
Including Colbert-Busch, seven Republicans and three Democrats have confirmed plans to run for the seat made vacant by Tim Scott’s appointment to the Senate. As of Friday morning, they are:
Former Gov. Mark Sanford (R)
Former State Sen. John Kuhn (R)
Teddy Turner (R)
Sen. Larry Grooms (R-37)
Rep. Andy Patrick (R-123)
Rep. Chip Limehouse (R-110)
Former Dorchester Co. Sheriff Ray Nash
Bobbie Rose (D)
Martin Skelly (D)
Sanford is the early favorite on the Republican side, but Republican insiders have told Patch they’re not sure he’s ready for the public stage so soon after the scandal that ended his marriage and forced him to repay the state of South Carolina more than $70,000. Should Sanford survive and emerge as the Republican nominee, the prospect of him squaring off against Colbert-Busch in a general election is sure to be riveting and will no doubt receive national attention.
Stephen Colbert raised hundreds of thousands of dollars via his own Super PAC for his own faux political aspirations. Speculation is already rampant as to whether or not Colbert will ramp up the Super PAC for his sister or appear in SC1 on her behalf.
The news rippled through the Palmetto State. Longtime political consultant Chip Felkel said, "The seat leans to the GOP and will likely remain so, but given her brother's celebrity, and her likely ability to capitilize on that in raising cash, it might mean the Democrats can be competitive. That said, it means that if GOP voters are serious about keeping the seat, they need to nominate a candidate who can weather a barrage of outside money in the general election."
Important Dates for the SC 1 Race:
Jan. 18 - Filing period opens and ends at noon on Jan. 28.
Feb. 16 - Last day to register to vote in primary.
April 6 - Last day to register to vote in general election.
March 19 - Primary Election Day.
April 2 - Run-off from primary. Top two finishers from primary in the event no one candidate receives 50 percent plus one of the total vote.
May 7 - General Election Day.
Stephen Colbert's Sister To Run For Congress
Stephen Colbert's dream of being appointed to replace South Carolina Rep. Tim Scott in Congress may not have come to fruition but that doesn't mean the Colbert clan has given up on representing the Palmetto State in the nation's Capitol. The Washington Post reports that the Comedy Central star's sister, Elizabeth Colbert-Busch, has informed the South Carolina Democratic Party that her soon-to-be-official campaign will file paperwork Tuesday to run in the special election to fill Scott's old seat.
Colbert-Bush is mostly an unknown quantity nationally, but this 2010 profile in the Charleston Post and Courier flagged by WaPo provides some interesting background:
Her father and two of her brothers were killed in a plane crash when she was 19. She was married to a man who ended up on “America’s Most Wanted.” And in 2001, while at a business conference in New York City, she was sitting in a building directly across the street from the World Trade Center when two jetliners slammed into its twin towers, forever changing the landscape of America.
But looking into her sparkling brown eyes, you’d never know this woman has seen enough tragedy for two lifetimes. Her infectious laugh fills the room as she talks about her children. Her face lights up every time she mentions Claus, her second husband and the man she calls the love of her life. And when she talks about her job, she speaks with a passion so great, you’d swear her boss was sitting next to her.
As director of business development for Clemson University’s Restoration Institute, Colbert-Busch is, for lack of a better term, the school’s corporate matchmaker. She finds companies that could benefit from the kind of advanced environmentally conscious research the university is doing - wind turbine testing, water studies, different kinds of renewable energy - and partners with them. More to the point, she asks them for money. In return, the corporations get the kind of cutting-edge information to help them stay one step ahead of the competition.
Former Gov. Mark Sanford (R-Appalachian Trail) has already announced he'll be running for the seat. Regardless of who Colbert-Busch squares off against in the general election (assuming, of course, she snags the Democratic nomination), she's expected to face an uphill battle given the congressional district skews heavily Republican. That said, her family connection clearly gives her an unusual advantage, and makes the race mighty hard to predict at this point.
BuzzFeed, which also confirmed the news about her plans, offers this helpful note about how she pronounces her last name: "phonetically, unlike her brother, who pronounces the surname with a silent 'T'."
Source 1
Source 2
I think I forgot the title the first time I submitted it mods, sorry :(
Included two articles because I thought both had something interesting to say about her and the other candidates. I would give almost anything to see her run against Sanford and win.