WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — Former South Carolina Lt. Governor Andre Bauer has been nominated to be the next U.S. ambassador to Belize.
The White House announced Friday he's been chosen for the position. He must be confirmed by the United States Senate.
The job has been vacant since the Obama Administration.
Bauer, 51, was a state representative and senator representing an area near Irmo and Chapin beginning in 1997 through 2003. He was then elected as lieutenant governor, serving from 2003 to 2011 while Mark Sanford was governor.
In 2010, he ran unsuccessfully for governor, losing in the Republican primary that featured two future governors: Nikki Haley and Henry McMaster. He also attempted to win the newly created 7th Congressional District seat in 2012.
After politics, he was involved primarily in real estate developments. But in 2016, he took a high-profile job as a CNN commentator. For most of the next three years, he provided political analysis, often being the pro-Trump side in many TV debates.
Bauer was born in Charleston but later raised in Irmo. He graduated from the University of South Carolina.
He was the National Chairman of the Republican Lt. Governor Association in 2005. Bauer also served as a Major in the South Carolina State Guard from 2010 – 2015.
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