Liz J. Patterson

Elizabeth Johnston "Liz" Patterson (born November 18, 1939 in Columbia, South Carolina) is an American politician from the Democratic Party. She is a former member of the United States House of Representatives. Her father, Olin D. Johnston, served as Governor of South Carolina and as U.S. Senator from South Carolina.

Patterson grew up in Kensington, Maryland. She graduated from Columbia College of South Carolina and did graduate work at the University of South Carolina. She worked in Washington, D.C., for the Peace Corps and the Office of Economic Opportunity during the Administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson. Patterson also worked as the South Carolina director of the Head Start Program and as an assistant to Congressman James R. Mann.

Patterson served on the Spartanburg County Council from 1975 to 1976 and in the South Carolina State Senate from 1979 to 1986. She was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina's 4th congressional district in 1986, succeeding Carroll A. Campbell, Jr., who had given up the seat to make a successful run for Governor of South Carolina. She narrowly defeated Greenville mayor Bill Workman, despite Campbell's presence atop the ticket. She was narrowly re-elected in 1988 even as George H. W. Bush carried the 4th by the largest margin in the state. She won a third term with considerably less difficulty in 1990 even as Campbell won reelection in a landslide. She served on the House Committees on Banking and Veterans Affairs.

Although she represented a district that had been trending Republican for some time, Patterson was thought to be fairly secure, given her family ties and the fact she won three straight elections under difficult conditions. It thus came as a surprise when she was narrowly defeated for re-election in 1992 by Bob Inglis, an attorney who had never run for office before. She was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina in 1994. She now teaches political science at Spartanburg Methodist College and is the chairwoman of the Spartanburg County Democratic Party. No woman has served in Congress from South Carolina since Patterson left office.

References

• Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress.
• South Carolina Legislative Manual.

External links

• Liz J. Patterson at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress