Bradley Hutto was born on August 6,1957 and is an American politician currently serving as a Democratic member of the South Carolina Senate, representing Senate District 40 since 1996.
70 Facts About Brad Hutto
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Brad Hutto is the Democratic Minority Leader in the Senate, succeeding Nikki Setzler on November 17,2020.
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Brad Hutto grew up on a dairy farm in Orangeburg County.
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Brad Hutto is an Eagle Scout and well known for contributions to the Boy Scouts of America having served at the unit level as a Cubmaster of Pack 90.
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Brad Hutto serves on the Executive Board of the Indian Waters Council, BSA and served as Council President from 2009 to 2011.
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Brad Hutto is a vigil honor member in Muscogee Lodge, Order of the Arrow where he served as Lodge Chief in 1975.
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Brad Hutto's Scouting recognitions include: Distinguished Eagle Scout, Silver Beaver, Order of the Arrow Founder's Award, and Centurion Award.
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Brad Hutto is a 1978 graduate of the Honors College of the University of South Carolina and a 1981 graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center.
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Early in his career, Hutto defended Democrats caught in the FBI sting operation, Operation Lost Trust, leading the defense team for House Rep.
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Brad Hutto has been an active member of the Democratic party since the early 1980s.
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Brad Hutto ultimately declined to focus on establishing himself as a state senator and entertaining a state-wide race down the line.
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Brad Hutto filed to run for Senator Lindsey Graham's seat in the United States Senate in 2014.
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Brad Hutto announced his candidacy on March 28,2014, saying that a "bruising primary" shaping up between Graham and Republican challengers "would give me an opening" in the race despite South Carolina's strong conservative lean.
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Brad Hutto criticized Graham for his frequent television appearances and said he would campaign to represent South Carolina's rural interests and communities.
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Brad Hutto's pitch revolved around him being a pragmatic, middle-of-the-road guy who is not afraid to work with Republicans, while being more focus on the needs of South Carolina.
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On May 14,2014, the state chapter of the AFL-CIO endorsed Brad Hutto, citing him as someone who has always stood up for working families in the State House.
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Brad Hutto was first elected to his seat in 1996 in a special election to fill the vacancy left when Marshall Burns Williams died in office.
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The special election was held on April 30,1996, and Brad Hutto faced Republican Bill Cox Jr.
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Brad Hutto ran unopposed in the 2012 and 2016 South Carolina Senate election.
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Brad Hutto won the Democratic primary, and went on to win the general election.
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Brad Hutto has represented the 40th Senate District since 1996, covering all or portions of the counties of Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Colleton, Hampton, and Orangeburg.
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Brad Hutto's is the only Senate District that includes six county seats.
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Brad Hutto serves on the following Senate Committees: Judiciary; Medical Affairs; Legislative Oversight; Banking and Insurance; Interstate Cooperation; Fish, Game and Forestry; Education; and Ethics.
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Brad Hutto is a member of the Joint Citizens and Legislative Committee on Children and the Public Utilities Review Committee.
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On May 11,2017, Brad Hutto was the sole state Senator preventing the passage of a bill H3643 that would require universities funded by the state government to adopt the US State Department's definition of antisemitism.
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In November 2020, Hutto was selected as the Minority Leader of the South Carolina Senate succeeding Nikki G Setzler.
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In 2002, Brad Hutto was responsible for brokering a compromise in the Senate that lead to the reclassification of crack cocaine possession charges to equal that of cocaine charges.
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In 2015, Brad Hutto was a supporter of police body camera legislation.
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Brad Hutto opposed efforts by Republicans to pass legislation that would put twice-convicted child molesters to death.
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Brad Hutto has often opposed laws that appeared simply to punish and fine, without any regards to educating or rehabilitating.
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In terms of procedural justice, Brad Hutto has often raised issue with laws that might strip fundamental rights from those charged or convicted of a crime, advocating for the right to trial and the right to proper defense.
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Brad Hutto has frequently argued for the punishment of a crime when one has occurred, but airing on the side of caution when accident might cause injury.
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From early efforts in 2014 that allowed cannabis oil for treatment in epilepsy cases to efforts to make medical cannabis more broadly available for pain management and opioid abuse treatment, Brad Hutto has always been an advocate for medical marijuana legalization from the dual perspectives of healthcare reform and tax revenue.
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In 1999, Brad Hutto supported a MADD-sponsored amendment to lower BAC threshold at which a jury may infer a driver is intoxicated down from 0.10 to 0.08, in-line with federal legislation proposed at the time.
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Tangentially, Brad Hutto has worked to pass stronger boating under the influence laws.
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Brad Hutto has a personal love for South Carolina's natural beauty.
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Brad Hutto has supported legislation around land conservation and preservation.
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Brad Hutto, representing majority rural counties, has been a supporter of hunting in South Carolina.
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Brad Hutto encouraged expanding bear hunting to help manage bears in the tourist-heavy area.
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In 2024, Brad Hutto proposed having a state run bounty to encourage the mass hunting of feral hogs within the state.
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Brad Hutto opposes efforts to standardize the South Carolina State Flag.
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Brad Hutto thinks that attempts to standardize the flag are merely an attempt by commercial entities to capitalize on a bureaucratic process.
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Since 2014, Brad Hutto has been an outspoken advocate for LGBT rights, beginning with vocal support for the legalization of same-sex marriage in South Carolina and the United States more broadly.
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In 2015, when there were efforts in the SC Senate to call for a constitutional convention to pass amendments to the US Constitution, Brad Hutto put in place procedural blockers to derail the efforts, helping to prevent the call for an amendment banning same-sex marriage.
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Brad Hutto has opposed efforts to criminalize and ostracize transgender children within the state.
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Brad Hutto opposed efforts to ban transgender children from sports, preferring to not single out the half dozen of children it applied to and wanting to handle situations on a case-by-case basis.
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Brad Hutto fought against legislation passed to prevent children from receiving gender transition care, calling out the legislation for being punitive, stepping between the child-parent relationship, and forcing teachers to act as cops who necessarily report their students for any gender-related behaviors.
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Brad Hutto is a proponent of making the South Carolina public education system more equitable in line with the state constitution, and he fundamentally rejects attempts at privatizing the education system within South Carolina.
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In 2000, Brad Hutto sought to reform truancy laws that would require a student be sent to jail if they missed more than 10 days of school.
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In 2024, Brad Hutto referred to the expansion of private school vouchers as an attempt to re-segregate the school system while starving an already suffering public school system of much needed funds.
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Brad Hutto has opposed Republican attempts to allow for religion and religious doctrine to be enshrined in public schools.
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In 2017, Brad Hutto was one of several Democratic Senators seeking to make technical colleges free for South Carolina residents.
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Brad Hutto has been a consistent opponent of abortion restrictions in South Carolina.
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Brad Hutto has pushed to raise the age of marriage to 18.
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On November 10,2019, Brad Hutto was one of several senators sponsoring legislation to that effect.
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Since 1999, Brad Hutto has been a vocal supporter of legislation that legalizes and regulates gambling industries.
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Brad Hutto was a member of the sub-committee that brought forth legislation leading to the South Carolina Education Lottery's creation in 2002.
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In 2012, when new video "sweepstakes" machines appeared to circumvent existing state law, Brad Hutto argued in favor of embracing these machines and seeking tax revenue through regulating them.
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Brad Hutto suggested Santee, South Carolina as an alternate place to host the location, if citizens of Rock Hill, South Carolina were so vehemently opposed to the location near them.
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Brad Hutto endorsed Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries and Joe Biden in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries.
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Brad Hutto backed Mia McLeod in the 2022 South Carolina gubernatorial election over Joe Cunningham.
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Brad Hutto was one of more than 150 state lawmakers who took trips to Turkey sponsored by groups inspired by Fethullah Gulen.
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In 2008, The State used SC's Freedom of Information Act to obtain copies of 10 DUI tickets in which Brad Hutto was both defense lawyer and nominating senator over a magistrate in holdover status.
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In 2013, a highway patrol trooper suggested he often let Brad Hutto's clients plead guilty to reduced charges because of Brad Hutto's power over the magistrates in Orangeburg County.
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Brad Hutto has been criticized by Democrats and Republicans alike for refusing to recuse himself when issues about the USC board come before the Senate, despite the fact that his law partner, Charles Williams, is a trustee.
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Brad Hutto has been criticized for his closeness to utility companies.
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In January 2018, it was revealed that Brad Hutto attended lavish "appreciation dinners" hosted by SCANA and other utility companies in the years surrounding the Nukegate scandal.
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In June 2018, Brad Hutto was one of two Senators opposing bills to cut utility costs decrying them unconstitutional.
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In January of 2021, Brad Hutto opposed the sale of Santee Cooper to a private entity.
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In 2018 and 2019, Brad Hutto served as the defense attorney of 19-year old Bowen Turner who was accused of raping three different girls.