文件-南卡罗来纳州参议员约翰·斯科特在纪念塞勒斯·卡马克-贝尔顿的祈祷守夜活动中发言，2023年6月2日，星期五，在哥伦比亚，南卡罗来纳州长期担任南卡罗来纳州议员的斯科特
南卡罗来纳州哥伦比亚据该州的民主党人说，州参议员约翰·斯科特是南卡罗来纳州的资深议员，任职超过30年，在医院工作一段时间后于周日去世。他69岁了。
据参议院官员称，斯科特自周五因一项未披露的医疗问题住院以来，一直在查尔斯顿的南卡罗来纳医科大学。
在参议院主席托马斯·亚历山大发表的一份声明中，斯科特的家人说他“在家人和密友的陪伴下平静地离开了人世。”
斯科特是哥伦比亚民主党人，经营一家房地产公司，在立法机构工作了30多年，最近在参议院司法、医疗事务和刑罚委员会任职。1990年，他第一次被选入州议会，并获胜选举2008年进入参议院，明年将再次竞选。他在2020年大选中没有竞争对手。
玛格丽特·威利斯(Marguerite Willis)在2018年寻求民主党州长提名失败时选择斯科特作为竞选伙伴，她周日告诉美联社(Associated Press)，斯科特去世时，她和斯科特的家人在查尔斯顿，她和斯科特最近反思了他们的竞选活动。
“约翰和我一个月前还在谈论这个，”威利斯说。“我们对此感到自豪，它所表达的和谐和多样性以及两性和两个种族在一起的重要性。它拓宽了我们的视野和经验，从而扩大了我们的影响。”
威利斯说，在他们成为竞选伙伴之前，她并不认识斯科特，她说他们的政治倾向很快演变成了亲密的友谊。
“他是女性和女性问题的超级支持者，”她说。“这是一种奇怪的包办婚姻:人们把我们放在一起，在过去的五年里，我们成了兄妹。他是我的朋友和家人。”
将举行一次特别选举来填补斯科特的席位。根据法规，在参议院主持人要求选举后，申请将在空缺后的第三个星期五开始，选举将在大约三个月后举行。州长亨利·麦克马斯特在声明中说，斯科特“将被深深怀念”，州长办公室表示，一旦葬礼安排宣布，他将下令全州降半旗。
斯科特的影响周日在南卡罗来纳州的民主党圈子里引起了反响。Christale Spain今年早些时候当选为南卡罗来纳州民主党主席，也是斯科特的选民之一，他“在大会上用自己的声音不仅为自己的选区，也为所有南卡罗来纳州人而战，他一生在教育、医疗保健和经济发展问题上的工作将对我们的国家产生持久的影响。”
参议院民主党领袖布拉德·休顿记得斯科特“不知疲倦的职业道德，他弥合分歧的意愿，以及他对正义和平等原则的坚定承诺。”
“一棵大树倒下了，”前民主党州参议员马龙·金普森周日说，他在今年早些时候离开众议院前曾与斯科特并肩作战。
达林顿的州参议员杰拉尔德·马洛伊(Gerald Malloy)记得斯科特是一个“数字人”，他在立法机构“总是有坚定的声音，特别是在金融和数字问题上”，但他的信仰更坚定，担任教堂执事，经常被邀请在各种活动中祈祷。
“约翰没事，”马洛伊周日告诉美联社。“回顾他所做的和他的服务，你唯一能说的是他的灵魂一切都好，工作做得很好。”
在2015年州参议员克莱门塔·平克尼(Clementa Pinckney)去世后，斯科特成为了马洛伊的参议员席位搭档，平克尼在查尔斯顿市中心的教堂与八名教区居民一起被枪杀。
“这将是一个悲伤的日子，再一次看到那个座位上的黑色窗帘，”情绪激动的马洛伊说，这是用来标记在任内去世的立法者座位的葬礼布。“这提醒了我们的人性，以及生命是多么宝贵。”
South Carolina state Sen. John Scott, longtime Democratic lawmaker, dies at 69
COLUMBIA, S.C. --State Sen. John Scott, a longtime South Carolina lawmaker who served for more than three decades, died Sunday after a stint in the hospital, according to Democrats across the state. He was 69.
Scott had been at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, since Friday, when he was hospitalized for an undisclosed medical issue, according to Senate officials.
In a statement released by Senate President Thomas Alexander, Scott's family said he “passed away peaceably while surrounded by family and close friends.”
Scott, a Columbia Democrat, operated a realty company and had been in the Legislature for more than 30 years, serving most recently on the Senate's judiciary, medical affairs and penology committees. First elected to the state House in 1990, he wonelectionto the Senate in 2008 and would have been up for reelection next year. He ran unopposed in the 2020 general election.
Marguerite Willis, who selected Scott as her running mate when she unsuccessfully sought the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 2018, told The Associated Press on Sunday that she was with Scott's family in Charleston when he died, and that she and Scott reflected recently on their campaign.
“John and I were just talking about this a month ago,” Willis said. “We were proud of that, and what it said about harmony and diversity and the importance of having both sexes and two races together. It broadened our vision and our experience, and thus our impact.”
Willis, who said she hadn't known Scott until they became running mates, said their political affiliation quickly evolved in a close friendship.
“He was a superb supporter of women and women’s issues,” she said. “It was sort of an arranged marriage in a weird way: people put us together, and over the last five years, we became brother and sister. He was my friend and my family.”
A special election will be held to fill Scott’s seat. According to statute, after the Senate’s presiding officer calls for the election, filing opens on the third Friday after the vacancy, with the election to be held roughly three months later. Gov. Henry McMaster said in statement that Scott “will be deeply missed," and the governor's office said he would order flags lowered across the state once funeral arrangements were announced.
Scott's impact reverberated Sunday throughout South Carolina's Democratic circles. Christale Spain, elected earlier this year as chair of South Carolina’s Democratic Party and one of Scott's constituents, remembered him as someone who “used his voice in the General Assembly to fight not only for his district but for all South Carolinians and his life’s work on issues of education, healthcare and economic development will have a lasting impact on our state.”
Senate Democratic Leader Brad Hutto remembered Scott’s “tireless work ethic, his willingness to bridge divides, and his unyielding commitment to the principles of justice and equality.”
“A giant tree has fallen,” former Democratic state Sen. Marlon Kimpson, who served alongside Scott before leaving the chamber earlier this year, said Sunday.
State Sen. Gerald Malloy, D-Darlington, remembered Scott as a “numbers man” who was “always a solid voice particularly on financial and numerical matters” in the Legislature, but was even stronger in his faith, serving as a church deacon and often called on to pray at various events.
“John’s OK,” Malloy told AP on Sunday. “Looking back on what he did and his service, the only thing you can really say is that all is well with his soul, and job well done.”
Scott became Malloy’s Senate seat mate after the 2015 death of state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, who was gunned down along with eight parishioners in his downtown Charleston church.
“It will be a sad day to see that black drape on that seat, yet again,” an emotional Malloy said of the funereal cloth used to mark the seats of lawmakers who die during their terms in office. “It’s a reminder as to our humanity, and how precious life is.”
