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\n

COLUMBIA, South Carolina \u2014 John Spratt, a former longtime Democratic congressman from South Carolina who successfully pushed for a balanced budget deal in the 1990s but was unseated decades later when his district turned Republican, has died. He was 82.<\/p>\n

Spratt died Saturday night at home, surrounded by family, due to complications from Parkinson\u2019s disease, his daughter, Catherine Spratt, said in a post on Facebook.<\/p>\n

Tributes quickly poured in for Spratt, who represented South Carolina\u2019s 5th District for nearly 30 years.<\/p>\n

Former President Bill Clinton hailed Spratt as a \u201cskilled and deeply principled lawmaker\u201d who was willing to work with anyone to pass legislation to make a difference in people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n

In a condolence letter to the family, according to Spratt\u2019s daughter, President Joe Biden wrote that, \u201cGuided by his wit, wisdom, decency and grace, John deeply understood the promise of America, and he fought tirelessly to bring people together to help us live up to that promise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican, in a post on X, called Spratt a man of \u201cunmatched intellect, integrity, and kindness,\u201d and said he would order flags across the state to be lowered to half-staff on the day of Spratt\u2019s funeral.<\/p>\n

Christale Spain, chair of South Carolina\u2019s Democratic Party, said in a news release that Spratt \u201cearned respect on both sides of the aisle, and he will be remembered for his courageous work to enhance and improve healthcare, support for our military, and his strengthening of rural communities leaves a lasting impact that will be felt for generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison, a South Carolina native, said he \u201coften teased that Mr. Spratt had probably forgotten more about the federal budget than the majority of Members had ever known,\u201d calling him \u201cbrilliant, kind, and beloved by many.\u201d<\/p>\n

First elected to Congress in 1982, Spratt rose through the ranks to become chairman of the House Budget Committee and the second-highest-ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee.<\/p>\n

One of his proudest accomplishments, his daughter said, was his role in passing the Balanced Budget Agreement of 1997.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll always be grateful for the chance to work with him, especially on the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 which he co-authored and helped produce record surpluses,\u201d Clinton said. \u201cJohn was a true public servant and a really good man.\u201d<\/p>\n

As much of the South tilted toward the GOP, Spratt hung on to his congressional seat, fending off challengers as Republicans redrew congressional maps in their favor.<\/p>\n

Spratt\u2019s district had been in Democratic hands for more than 100 years until Republican Mick Mulvaney defeated Spratt in a 2010 race for the seat. Mulvaney held it for three terms before going on to serve President Donald Trump\u2019s first administration as director of the Office of Management and Budget, and for more than a year, as acting White House chief of staff.<\/p>\n

South Carolina now has six Republicans and one Democrat \u2014 Rep. Jim Clyburn, who recently won his 17th term representing the state\u2019s 6th District \u2014 in its U.S. House delegation. Only one other district, the 1st, was briefly won by a Democrat before reverting to Republican hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cServing in Congress with John Spratt was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life,\u201d Clyburn wrote in a post on X, calling his former colleague \u201ca friend and confidant, a colleague and counselor, and a mentor and partner,\u201d as well as \u201can inconspicuous genius and the most ordinary, extraordinary person I have ever known.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spratt graduated from Davidson College, where he was student body president. Winning a Marshall Scholarship to Oxford, he studied economics, and earned a law degree from Yale. Spratt was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal after serving as a captain in the Army from 1969 to 1971, coming home to South Carolina that year to practice law with his father.<\/p>\n

Eleven years later, he was elected to his first U.S. House term.<\/p>\n

Survivors include his wife, Jane Stacy Spratt \u2014 to whom he was married for 56 years \u2014 three daughters, and several grandchildren.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

COLUMBIA, South Carolina \u2014 John Spratt, a former longtime Democratic congressman from South Carolina who successfully pushed for a balanced budget deal in the 1990s but was unseated decades later when his district turned Republican, has died. He was 82. Spratt died Saturday night at home, surrounded by family, due to complications from Parkinson\u2019s disease, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3800\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}