Archie Parnell

Archie Parnell
Personal details
Born	1950/1951 (age 66–67) Sumter, South Carolina, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Sarah Parnell
Education	University of South Carolina, Columbia (BA, JD) Georgetown University (LLM)

Archie William Parnell Jr. is an American attorney and politician. He was the Democratic Party nominee for the June 20, 2017, special election for South Carolina's 5th congressional district of the U.S. House of Representatives. He lost the election to Republican Ralph Norman, receiving approximately 48% of the vote in the general election, an unexpectedly close margin.

Parnell grew up in Sumter, South Carolina, where he still resides. He attended the University of South Carolina where he earned a bachelor's degree and a law degree.

He worked as a tax attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice and for the House Ways & Means Committee.

Parnell worked for Goldman Sachs, largely in Hong Kong, and for Exxon Mobil. He retired prior to declaring his intention to run for Congress.

Former district representative John Spratt endorsed Parnell in the May 2017 Democratic primary, which Parnell won with 71% of the vote.

A television advertisement of Parnell's drew media notice. In it, he imitated the fictional character Frank Underwood, who represents what appears to be the South Carolina 5th district in the television show House of Cards.

A Politico analysis attributed Parnell's relatively high vote percentage, given the district and the special election timing, to his humble, positive, and funny ad messages, and his avoidance of standard partisan conflicts and rhetoric. Parnell spent approximately $500,000 on his campaign through the end of May 2017. In addition to his unique advertising and campaign strategy, his close margin has been attributed, in part, to low Republican turnout.

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