Representative Thomas Forbes Hartnett

Thomas Forbes “Tommy” Hartnett (born August 7, 1941) is a former American politician and real estate businessman who served as a U.S. Representative from South Carolina from 1981 to 1987. A member of the Republican Party, he represented South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District for three terms in the United States House of Representatives, contributing to the legislative process during a significant period in American political history and representing the interests of his Lowcountry constituents.

Hartnett was born in Charleston, South Carolina, and was raised in the Charleston area. He graduated from Bishop England High School in Charleston in 1960. Following high school, he attended the College of Charleston from 1960 to 1961. In addition to his early work and political activity, Hartnett served in the United States Air Force Reserve from 1963 to 1969, reflecting an early commitment to public service and national defense.

Hartnett’s political career began in state government. In 1964, he was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives from a Charleston-area district. Originally a Democrat, he served four terms in the state House. During this period, he underwent a significant political realignment, switching to the Republican Party in 1972 as the state and region experienced broader partisan shifts. That same year he was elected to the South Carolina Senate, where he served two terms. As his involvement in Republican politics deepened, he attended the South Carolina Republican convention beginning in 1972 and was a delegate to every Republican National Convention from 1980 to 2000, underscoring his growing prominence within the party at both the state and national levels.

In 1980, Hartnett sought federal office and won the Republican nomination for South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, based in and around Charleston, after five-term Democratic incumbent Mendel Jackson Davis retired due to back problems. In the general election, Hartnett narrowly defeated Democrat Charles D. Ravenel, an Associate Deputy Secretary of Commerce. His victory made him the first Republican to win an undisputed election in the district since Reconstruction, reflecting both his own political appeal and the district’s evolving partisan landscape. His election coincided with Ronald Reagan’s successful presidential campaign; Reagan carried Charleston County with 55 percent of the vote, and the district had been trending Republican at the national level for decades, having supported the Democratic presidential nominee only once since 1956, when Jimmy Carter carried it in 1976. Nonetheless, conservative Democrats continued to dominate many state legislative and local offices in the region well into the 1990s.

Hartnett served in the U.S. House of Representatives from January 3, 1981, to January 3, 1987. During his three terms in Congress, he participated actively in the democratic process and contributed to the legislative work of the House, representing the concerns of his coastal South Carolina constituents during a period marked by the Reagan administration’s domestic and foreign policy initiatives. He was convincingly reelected in 1982 and again in 1984, when he secured approximately 61 percent of the vote, consolidating his position as a leading Republican figure in the state. While serving in Congress, he also continued his military-affiliated service as a member of the South Carolina Air National Guard from 1981 to 1987.

In 1986, Hartnett chose not to seek reelection to the House, instead running for lieutenant governor of South Carolina. He narrowly lost that statewide race to Democratic State Senator Nick Theodore. Following his departure from Congress, Hartnett returned to the private sector and became a real estate agent, building on his family’s long-standing involvement in the Charleston-area property market. He founded Hartnett Realty in his hometown of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, further entrenching his role as a local businessman and community figure.

Hartnett reemerged on the statewide political stage in 1992 when he became the Republican nominee for the United States Senate, challenging four-term Democratic incumbent Ernest “Fritz” Hollings, a fellow Charleston resident. In a year generally favorable to Democrats nationally, Hartnett nonetheless gave Hollings the closest race of his Senate career, losing by only about three percentage points. During this campaign, he attracted support from prominent national Republicans, including Kansas Senator Bob Dole, who campaigned with him in South Carolina.

In later years, Hartnett has remained active in business and civic life. He lives in Mount Pleasant and serves as chairman of the family-owned Hartnett Realty, one of the oldest real estate firms in the Charleston area. The firm was originally created in 1947 by his mother, Catherine Forbes Hartnett, and has continued under family leadership into the next generation. His son, Tom Hartnett Jr., has followed him into public service and currently serves in the South Carolina House of Representatives, extending the Hartnett family’s longstanding involvement in state and local affairs.