David Beasley
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David Muldrow Beasley (born February 26 1957) is a United States politician. He was the governor of South Carolina from 1995 until 1999.
Beasley began his political career as a member of the United States Democratic Party but switched to the United States Republican Party long before his time as governor. His first run for public office was at age 20 years during his junior year at Clemson University when he won a seat in the South Carolina House of Representatives. He was a member of the state legislature from 1979 until 1995. During the 1994 election for governor, he and his Democratic opponent, Nick Theodore, both had tough primary fights within their own parties. Beasley won by a vote of 50%-48%. He was defeated in his 1998 bid for reelection by Democrat Jim Hodges. Beasley is known as an outspoken member of the Christian right.
In 2003 he was a recipient of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for his stand on removing the Confederate flag from the state house, which hurt his re-election support. In early 2004 he announced as a candidate for the US Senate on the Republican ticket. In the June 22, 2004 primary runoff, he was defeated by Rep. Jim DeMint of Greenville, South Carolina.