Vincent Sheheen

Vincent Austin Sheheen (born April 29, 1971) is an American attorney and politician. He has been a member of the South Carolina Senate since 2004, representing the 27th District, which comprises Chesterfield, Kershaw, and Lancaster counties. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
He was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 2001 to 2004. He ran for Governor of South Carolina twice, in 2010 and 2014, losing both times to Nikki Haley.

Vincent Sheheen was born and raised in Camden, South Carolina. His father, Fred Sheheen, was the former executive director of the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education. His mother is Italian. His uncle Robert Sheheen was the former Speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives, becoming the first Lebanese speaker of the house in 1986. His great grandfather Abraham Sheheen immigrated to the U.S. from Lebanon, and his great-grandmother was also Lebanese.

Sheheen received a bachelor's degree from Clemson University, where he met his wife, Amy. Later he attended law school at the University of South Carolina. They have three sons, Anthony and twins Austin and Joseph. Sheheen served as a city prosecutor before being elected to public office and was named, "Legislator of the Year" by the South Carolina Solicitor's Association for his work on behalf of law enforcement.

While serving in the South Carolina House of Representatives, Sheheen worked to create a conservation land bank that has preserved thousands of acres in South Carolina. After Republican Governor Mark Sanford announced that he would reject stimulus money for South Carolina, Sheheen helped lead an effort in the South Carolina Senate to bypass the governor and claim about $700 million in stimulus funds. He is pushing a bi-partisan ethics reform package which would require former legislators to wait eight years before they can register as lobbyists.

Sheheen is the author of the book The Right Way: Getting the Palmetto State Back on Track.

2010

Sheheen announced his intention to run for Governor of South Carolina with the Democratic party on February 6, 2009. On June 8, 2010, Sheheen won the primary over State Superintendent Jim Rex, and was the party's nominee for Governor in the November general election. He lost in the general election to the Republican party's nominee, State Representative Nikki Haley by a margin 51% to 47%.

2014

Sheheen announced his intention for a second run for governor in 2014.

During a campaign event in Florence, Sheheen said: "We are going to escort her out the door", referring to Governor Haley. It sounded like he said "whore" rather than "her". Part of Sheheen's campaign for governor was the Democratic Party's "support and respect for women." A video of the event went viral, prompting an outraged response from Ann Romney, a Haley supporter. The video was posted by The Washington Free Beacon, a conservative website, on YouTube, where it gained attention and was later removed due to a copyright claim by Morning News. Sheheen later apologized for the incident, calling it a "slip of the tongue."

He ran against and lost to Haley again in 2014, as she won 55 percent of the vote to his 41 percent.