Former longtime South Carolina congressman John Spratt dies at 82

COLUMBIA, S.C. — John Spratt, a former Democratic congressman from South Carolina who successfully pushed for a balanced budget deal in the 1990s but was ousted decades later when his district turned Republican, has died. He was 82.

Spratt died Saturday evening at home, surrounded by family, due to complications from Parkinson’s disease, his daughter, Catherine Spratt, said in a post on Facebook.

Tributes quickly came to Spratt, who represented South Carolina’s 5th District for nearly 30 years.

Former President Bill Clinton praised Spratt as a “skilled and deeply principled lawmaker” who was willing to work with anyone to pass legislation that would make a difference in people’s lives.

In a condolence letter to the family, President Joe Biden wrote, according to Spratt’s daughter: “Guided by his humor, wisdom, decency and grace, John deeply understood the promise of America, and he fought tirelessly to bring people together to help us. keep that promise.”

Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican, in a post on .

Christale Spain, chair of the Democratic Party of South Carolina, said in a news release that Spratt “deserved respect on both sides of the aisle, and he will be remembered for his courageous work to advance and improve health care, support for our military and its strengthening of rural communities leaves a lasting impact that will be felt for generations.”

Jaime Harrison, a South Carolina native who currently chairs the Democratic National Committee, said “often teased that Mr. Spratt had probably forgotten more about the federal budget than the majority of members had ever known,” calling him “brilliant, kind , and loved by many.”

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.

One of his proudest achievements, his daughter said, was his role in passing the 1997 Balanced Budget Agreement.

“I will always be grateful for the opportunity to work with him, especially on the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, which he co-authored and which helped produce record surpluses,” Clinton said. “John was a true public servant and a very good man.”

While much of the South leaned more Republican, Spratt clung to his congressional seat and held off challengers while the districts around him remained red, and Republicans took over the state and redrew the congressional maps to give them major advantages.

Spratt’s district had been in Democratic hands for more than a hundred years, until Republicans redrew the district map and changed its boundaries to place it more securely under their party’s control. Republican Mick Mulvaney defeated Spratt in a 2010 race for the seat, which Mulvaney held for three terms before going on to serve President Donald Trump’s first administration as director of the Office of Management and Budget and, for more than a year, as acting White House. chief of staff.

South Carolina now has six Republicans and one Democrat — Rep. Jim Clyburn, who recently won his 17th term representing the state’s sixth district — in the U.S. House delegation. Only one other district, the first, was briefly won by a Democrat before falling back into Republican hands.

“Serving in Congress with John Spratt was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life,” Clyburn wrote in a post on ” called, as well as “an unremarkable genius and the most ordinary, extraordinary person I have ever known.”

Spratt graduated from Davidson College, where he served as student body president. He won a Marshall Scholarship to Oxford, studied economics and received a law degree from Yale. Spratt served as a captain in the Army from 1969 to 1971 and received the Meritorious Service Medal.

After that service, Spratt returned to South Carolina in 1971 to practice law with his father. Eleven years later, he was elected to his first term in the U.S. House.

Survivors include his wife of 56 years, Jane Stacy Spratt, three daughters and several grandchildren.

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Schreiner reported from Shelbyville, Kentucky. AP reporter Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, also contributed to this report.