Paul Crawford

Paul Jacob Crawford  (born February 19, 1948) is an American politican serving as the Junior Senator from South Carolina, a seat he has held since 2011.

A member of the Republican Party, Crawford attended The Citadel, a private military school in Charleston, South Carolina. After serving for 4 years in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War, Crawford began working as a Republican lobbyist in South Carolina. Crawford was elected to the Charleston City Council in 1976 and served as the Head of the Charleston Finance Department in 1979 and 1980 before being elected as a South Carolina State Representative. After a single term in the state house, Crawford was elected to the state senate where he served for a single, four year term before being elected to the U.S House of Representatives in 1986.