Thurmond Wants Estranged Wife to Fill Senate Seat

Thurmond Wants Estranged Wife to Fill Senate Seat

NewsMax.com Wires
Friday, Feb. 23, 2001

COLUMBIA, S.C. (UPI) - Strom Thurmond, the nation's oldest U.S. senator, videotaped a message urging South Carolina Gov. Jim Hodges to appoint his estranged wife, Nancy, to his seat if he leaves office before his term expires in 2002, a newspaper reported Thursday.

The State said Nancy Thurmond showed the video in a private meeting in Hodges' office in November, where she proposed that Hodges, a Democrat, appoint her to the Senate should the 98-year-old Republican step aside because of poor health.

In the video, Thurmond comments on the possibility of appointing Nancy to the seat. The video was taped in the senator's Alexandria, Va., apartment, a source told the newspaper. Mrs. Thurmond, 54, separated from the veteran lawmaker in 1991 after 22 years of marriage.

Mrs. Thurmond would not comment on the existence of the videotape, saying that it involved "a private meeting" with Hodges. A spokesman for Hodges has said the governor is unlikely to appoint her to the seat.

The Democrats split control of the Senate with the Republicans 50-50 this term when Missouri's Democratic governor appointed the unelected widow of Mel Carnahan to the Senate after the recently deceased Carnahan was elected.

Thurmond, who took office in 1954, has said he will not seek re-election in 2002. He spent time at Walter Reed Army Medical Center earlier this month recovering from fatigue and was briefly hospitalized early last year after complaining of dizziness.

Thurmond, who serves on the Senate's Armed Services and Judiciary committees, has no plans to step down from office, a spokeswoman said.

U.S. Rep. Lindsey Graham, 45, launched a campaign Wednesday seeking the Republican nomination for Thurmond's office "to keep this Senate seat in the conservative column as a voice for the conservative people of South Carolina."

"For the rest of my life, I will honor Strom Thurmond's legacy and continue his fight for the cause of conservative government," Graham told supporters in North Charleston.

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