Arthur Ravenel, Jr.
| Arthur Ravenel Jr. | |
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina's 1st district |
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In office January 3, 1987 – January 3, 1995 |
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| Preceded by | Thomas F. Hartnett |
| Succeeded by | Mark Sanford |
| Member of the South Carolina Senate from the 34th District | |
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In office January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2005 |
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| Preceded by | Greg Smith |
| Succeeded by | Raymond E. Cleary III |
| Member of the South Carolina Senate from the 44th District | |
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In office January 8, 1985 – January 3, 1987 |
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| Preceded by | District established |
| Succeeded by | Sherry Shealy Martschink |
| Member of the South Carolina Senate from the 16th District | |
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In office January 13, 1981 – January 8, 1985 |
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| Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from Charleston County | |
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In office January 13, 1953 – January 13, 1959 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
March 29, 1927 Charleston, South Carolina |
| Political party | Republican |
| Religion | French Huguenot |
Arthur Ravenel Jr. (born March 29, 1927) is a businessman and a Republican politician from Charleston, South Carolina.
The Charleston-born Ravenel served in the United States Marine Corps from 1945 to 1946. He thereafter received a bachelor of science degree from the College of Charleston in 1950. He is a realtor and general contractor. He was a Democratic member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1953 to 1959.
He switched to Republican affiliation in the early 1960s and ran many times for office. He lost a total of five elections for the South Carolina State Senate (1962, 1974, and 1976), for the United States House of Representatives (1971 special election), and for mayor of Charleston (also 1971).
Ravenel was finally elected as a Republican to the South Carolina Senate in 1980. He served until 1986, when he was elected to the U.S. Congress from the Charleston-based 1st District. He was reelected three more times without serious opposition. He did not run for reelection in 1994, but instead ran for governor. He finished second in the Republican primary to then State Representative David Beasley, but lost the runoff. Beasley, considered more conservative than Ravenel, went on to win the general election. In 1996, Ravenel was elected to his old seat in the state Senate, where he served until 2005.
Ravenel staged a comeback in 2006, having been elected at the age of 79 to a seat on the school board of Charleston County. Only a year earlier, he had suffered a bout of Guillain–Barré syndrome. In the same election, his son Thomas Ravenel, also a Republican, was elected state treasurer. Thomas served for only six months before he was suspended after being indicted for buying and distributing cocaine. Ravenel declined to run for re-election to the school board in 2010.
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