Elizabeth Colbert Busch, sister of Comedy Central star Stephen Colbert, is running for a vacant seat in U.S. Congress from their native South Carolina. Colbert Busch is one of two Democrats seeking the seat vacated by Republican Tim Scott, who was appointed to fill the state’s U.S. Senate seat. The resignation of Sen. Jim DeMint led to Scott’s promotion by Gov. Nikki Haley, and a subsequent special election to fill Scott’s seat in the U.S. House. Colbert Bush’s first opponent is Ben Frasier in the Democratic primary March 19. There are said to be as many as a dozen candidates on the GOP side. As for whether her famous brother will aid or hamper her campaign? “I’m not worried. I’m so proud of what he is and what he has accomplished,” Elizabeth told reporters from her campaign office in Charleston, S.C. “But when people see what I have done and they know the work we have done and they know me as a person and a professional, it will be fine.” Stephen Colbert said he plans to support his sister, whom the family calls Lulu, but won’t make mention of her on The Colbert Report … well, probably. “Lulu has a job to do, and that’s run for Congress. I have a job to do and that’s to make jokes,” he said. “I would never use my show to get my sister elected.” “But the fact my sister is running, or that Mark Sanford is running or Teddy Turner is running or Chip Limehouse, who I knew when I was younger, is running …” “Those are all opportunities for my character to make jokes. But I want people to know this is her own thing. It’s not me doing anything,” he says. Mark Sanford is the former South Carolina governor trying to make a comeback after an affair with Maria Belen Chapur derailed his political career. Turner is the son of media magnate Ted Turner. Limehouse, a state representative, is also considered a strong contender for the 1st District seat. The odds are steep for Stephen’s sister in this Republican-leaning state, but she “This is a privilege to be able to do this,” Colbert Busch said. “My gut is telling me, ‘you’re never going to get this opportunity again.’ And you don’t want to turn around as an old woman and say I didn’t try.” She said her desire for public service was forged in her youth and tempered by her life experiences of loss, struggle and professional success. In 1974, Colbert Busch’s father and three of her other brothers – her parents had 11 children, including Elizabeth and Stephen – died in a plane crash. The politically-active Colbert Busch once worked in Washington, D.C., as an intern for then-U.S. Senator Ernest “Fritz” Hollings (D-SC). Starting as a data entry clerk, she worked her way up to become Southeast director of sales and manager for Orient Overseas Container lines. She is now on a leave of absence from her position as the director of business development for Clemson University’s Wind Turbine Drive Testing Facility.
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Elizabeth Colbert Busch, Sister of Stephen, Running For Congress in South Carolina
