# Tom Rice Republican U.S. Representative for South Carolina's 7th district, the Myrtle Beach–Florence–Pee Dee region (2013–2023). Born Hugh Thompson Rice Jr. on August 4, 1957, in Charleston, he was a CPA and Myrtle Beach tax lawyer before chairing the Horry County Council (2010–2012). ## The second impeachment Rice voted against impeachment in December 2019 and for it on January 13, 2021, one of ten Republicans to do so (see [[Trump Second Impeachment]]). He had not been a Trump critic before January 6; he was a reliable conservative in a safe Republican seat. ## The punishment - **2021-01-30** — The South Carolina Republican Party censured him. - **2022-02-01** — Trump endorsed state Rep. Russell Fry against him, explicitly over the impeachment vote. - **2022-06-14** — Fry won the primary outright with **51.1%** to Rice's **24.6%**, avoiding a runoff in a crowded field. ## KB significance A ten-year incumbent got under a quarter of his own party's primary vote. Because the district was safe, the seat stayed Republican; only the member changed. That is the purest version of the loyalty test on [[Trump Impeachments Timeline]]: no ideological difference between the incumbent and the challenger, and one vote decided the outcome. ## Related - [[Trump Second Impeachment]] - [[Trump Impeachments Timeline]]