Former SC Lt. Gov. Bauer nominated for diplomatic role in Trump administration

Former South Carolina Lt. Gov. André Bauer will likely be the next U.S. ambassador to Belize.

Bauer, who served under Gov. Mark Sanford, was appointed by President Donald Trump’s administration Tuesday. The nomination needs approval from the U.S. Senate.

President Donald Trump previously nominated Bauer to a diplomatic post at the end of his first administration in 2020.

Bauer repeatedly asked U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham for support in gaining a presidential appointment in late 2024 and early 2025, a spokesperson for Graham’s office wrote to The State over the summer. Graham congratulated Bauer on the nomination in social media post Wednesday.

“Andre will do a great job,” Graham wrote. “I look forward to helping him with his nomination and getting him through the Senate as soon as possible.”

The former South Carolina lieutenant governor mounted a short-lived campaign for Graham’s U.S. Senate seat in June and quickly suspended the bid just over a month later.

“I cannot and will not be part of a political climate that rewards deception over honesty, or ambition over unity,” Bauer wrote in a social media post when he left the U.S. Senate race.

Bauer did not immediately return a phone call requesting more information about the ambassadorship.

He was lieutenant governor from 2003-11 and later ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House and governor’s office.

Reporter Joseph Bustos contributed reporting to this article.