If tradition holds sway, some South Carolinians are in for some key top jobs of prestige and power in the coming administration of President-elect Joe Biden.

According to interviews with more than a dozen current and former Democratic officials, insiders and political consultants, longstanding support by various South Carolinians for Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will translate into potential job offers in the near future.

One prominent local Democrat and longtime Biden booster, Sen. Dick Harpootlian, D-Richland, is being talked about as a favored candidate for an ambassadorship or other top job.

But Harpootlian says now the role he prefers is to share his thoughts, if asked, on which South Carolinians might be a good fit in the future Biden administration.

“Obviously, there will be a lot of new jobs in this new administration, and to the extent I can be of service to help people who would be qualified, I will be glad to do that,” said Harpootlian.

Harpootlian has known Biden for some 30 years. In May 2019, when few believed Biden was a serious contender, Harpootlian held a fundraiser at his Wales Garden home in Columbia for the president-elect that raised $115,000. Biden would go on to later raise hundreds of millions, but he needed that $115,000 then.

For the time being, said Harpootlian, his top goal is to stay in the Senate and focus on the process of redrawing district lines for General Assembly and Congressional seats — lines that will help determine the shape of state politics for the next 10 years.

Down the road, Harpootlian said, he wouldn’t rule out government service, should something come up. “But if the new president said he really needed me for something, I would have to consider that.”

Presidents boost SC pols

South Carolinians have long been elevated to powerful posts by presidents they’ve supported.

Those roles include key Cabinet positions, administration jobs and ambassadorships in high-profile capitals, preferably in beautiful and dynamic parts of the world.

For example, in 1977 President Jimmy Carter rewarded the late former Democratic Gov. John West with the Saudi Arabian ambassador’s post. Former Republican S.C. House Speaker David Wilkins served as ambassador to Canada from 2005 to 2009 for President George W. Bush. And in President Bill Clinton’s second term, he named Democrat Phil Lader, a big Clinton supporter who’d lost the 1986 S.C. race for governor, to perhaps the choicest ambassador’s post of all — the Court of St. James, or the United Kingdom.

South Carolinians need not look that far back to see the benefit new presidents have showered on the state’s politicos.

One of Trump’s first ambassador jobs went to then-SC Gov. Nikki Haley, whom Trump announced shortly after his November 2016 election that he would name U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Haley’s ascension was largely seen as a reward to then-Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster for being the first statewide official in the nation to endorse Trump before the state’s pivotal presidential primary, lending legitimacy to his campaign. Haley’s exit from the governor’s office allowed McMaster to become governor, his dream job, he’s said repeatedly.

Trump gave another ambassador job to longtime supporter and South Carolina political operative Ed McMullen, current ambassador to Switzerland. Trump tapped U.S. Rep. Mick Mulvaney, who represented South Carolina’s 5th Congressional District from 2011 to 2016, to lead the Office of Management and Budget and later as Trump’s acting chief of staff. In March, Mulvaney was named the special envoy to Northern Ireland.

The SC short list?

One likely South Carolinian who could have his pick of top posts would be Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., who is given credit by many for rescuing a foundering Biden campaign last February just before the state’s Feb. 29 primary.

Clyburn’s public endorsement of Biden days before the primary helped solidify support for Biden, especially among Black voters, in a state where he never trailed in the polls but was facing a crowded field of insurgent challengers. Most other candidates dropped out after Biden’s decisive win the primary.

But at a Monday press conference, Clyburn, 80, the House’s third ranking Democrat, told reporters he is happy where he is. “I have absolutely no interest in being in this administration,” Clyburn said.

Clyburn said Democrat Jaime Harrison, of Orangeburg, who was defeated last week in an expensive contest by U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., would be a worthy candidate for a Biden post.

“We’ll talk through what may be a good fit for him,” Clyburn said about Harrison.

Other South Carolinians being talked about for potential ambassador posts include Charleston attorney Joe Rice and Greenville’s Billy Webster, both of whom were major Democratic financial supporters in this year’s election. Rice is one of the nation’s leading plaintiff’s attorneys. Webster, a philanthropist and entrepreneur, played key roles in President Clinton’s administration. After helping during the Clinton transition, Webster became Education Secretary Riley’s chief of staff.

Other names being floated as potential ambassadors include former U.S. Attorney for South Carolina Pete Strom and outgoing longtime State Sen. Vincent Sheheen, D-Kershaw, who was upset in last week’s election by a Republican challenger.

New presidents get to select U.S. attorneys — the top federal prosecutors — in each state. Gov. McMaster was President Ronald Reagan’s first appointed U.S. attorney, for example.

Names being talked about for Biden’s consideration for new U.S. attorney — a post now occupied by Trump pick Peter McCoy — are Democrats David Pascoe, the 1st circuit solicitor who has won recognition for prosecuting and convicting Republican state lawmakers for public corruption, and Meghan Walker, attorney who serves as executive director of the S.C. Ethics Commission.

Unless U.S. Senate Republicans block Pascoe, he is said to have an inside track on the U.S. attorney’s job. Walker spent several years as an assistant prosecutor in the 5th Circuit Solicitor’s Office where her old boss, Dan Johnson, was found guilty of public corruption and spent a year in federal prison. Although Walker was not involved in Johnson’s corruption, her job in his office might raise questions among some U.S. senators.

Former State House Democratic Rep. Bakari Sellers, an early supporter of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, is also said to be a potential contender for an ambassador’s job or the U.S. attorney’s post, should he want either.

Sellers told The State, “The only job I’m really interested in is Jim Clyburn’s 6th District Congressional seat, should he ever leave it.” However, Sellers said, “If the president asks you to do something for the good of the country, I would certainly consider it.”

One South Carolinian who might be in the running for a good job with Biden is Trip King of Columbia, whose ties to the president-elect date back to the 1970s when King was a young staffer, and later state director, for the late longtime Sen. Fritz Hollings, D-S.C. Hollings and Biden, who was elected senator in 1972, were longtime desk mates in the U.S. Senate.

After Hollings retired in 2005, as Biden began exploring a 2008 run for president and would visit South Carolina, King would drive Biden around the state, introducing him to numerous influential people he had met while working for Hollings. King also worked on the national 2012 President Obama-Vice President Joe Biden re-election campaign. In Biden’s memoir, “Promise me Dad,” Biden described King as the “best political operative in South Carolina.”

Because of his experience with Congress, his knowledge of national politics and his relationship of trust with Biden, King would be in a position to fill any number of posts.

The U.S. Marshal’s post is another top job, and Orangeburg Sheriff Leroy Ravenell is said to be the front-runner and is being backed by a Democratic law enforcement officers and politicians.

New presidents have also given South Carolinians top departmental and Cabinet posts.

In 1981, Reagan named former S.C. Republican Gov. Jim Edwards to be Secretary of Energy. In 1993, President Clinton named former SC Democratic Gov. Dick Riley to be Secretary of Education, where Riley served eight years. President Obama named former S.C. Education superintendent Inez Tenenbaum to be chairman of the Consumer Products Safety Commission.

Other South Carolinians who have potential for posts in the Biden administration include:

▪ State Sen. Marlon Kimpson, D-Charleston, who showed star power and his closeness to Biden by being selected as one of Biden’s speakers at the virtual Democratic convention last summer where the former vice president accepted the presidential nomination.

▪ Columbia attorney Marguerite Willis, who ran for governor in 2018 in the Democratic primary but lost. This year, Willis was an early backer of Harris who backed Biden once Harris dropped out.

▪ Amanda Loveday, of Columbia, a former state Democratic Party executive director who has close ties to Harpootlian and Clyburn. Loveday was a key national Biden fundraiser and ran the Unite the Country super PAC.

▪ Former S.C. Democratic Gov. Jim Hodges, who served from 1999-2003. Hodges endorsed Biden at a low point in Biden’s presidential race — right after the Iowa primary where Biden failed to garner commanding support.