"What is so different about Katherine Jenerette? For starters she's a lot like the rest of us."
UPDATE - JUNE 2012 - Katherine Jenerette, just returned home in January from a combat tour of duty in Afghanistan and the US Army Paratrooper and a former US Congressional Field Representative for the First Congressional District is a Candidate for the new 7th Congressional District. She is a Captain in the US Army Reserve, a recipient of the Purple Heart and was awarded the Combat Action Badge after an insurgent attack in Kandahar Province last fall. Katherine was recently named as one of THE 45 MOST ADMIRED REPUBLICAN WOMEN UNDER 45 by The Republican Security Council based in Washington, D.C.
Please see Press Release: Afghanistan War Veteran Takes Fight to 7th Congressional District Race
Jenerette is “…an independent-thinking conservative who's not afraid to buck the status quo, Jenerette sent shockwaves through the Palmetto political landscape.” Katherine Jenerette’s near win of a powerful Senate Seat in 2004 earned her a reputation in many political circles as “the good old boys' worst enemy." ~ FITS Political News
NEW! NEW! NEW! PRIMARY ELECTION & PHOTOS UPDATE JUNE 13, 2010 - SOUTH CAROLINA NEWS
Katherine Jenerette is a U.S. Army veteran of the Persian Gulf War Operation Desert Storm and a graduate of the University of South Carolina, Coastal Carolina with a Masters Degree from USC, Columbia. She served as U.S. Congressional Field Representative for the First Congressional District, South Carolina. She is married and the mother of four children and an Officer in the U.S. Army Reserve.
Katherine Jenerette served as a Field Representative for the 1st Congressional District, South Carolina and a Congressional Staff Assistant, and was a member of the North Myrtle Beach Planning Commission. Katherine also served as the CEO of the Myrtle Beach Area Hospitality Association and a member the Horry County Envision 2025 Comprehensive Planning Committee task force.
Katherine is a Commissioned Officer serving in the U.S. Army Reserve and an Army Paratrooper and is currently assigned to the U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, N.C. Jenerette is part of the military’s highly specialized Civil Affairs teams which forms the nucleus of the Army's Civil-Military operations expertise for both Army Special Operations (SOF) and conventional forces. She is a graduate of the U.S. Army's Airborne school at Ft. Benning, Georgia, the Mobilization Civil Affairs Course (MCAC) at Ft. Bragg, NC and the Military Police Corps Officer LeadershipCourse at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri.
After coming home from the Gulf War, Katherine attended the University of South Carolina,Coastal Carolina Campus on a Cross Country and Track scholarship. While in the Army, Katherine had competed in the U.S. Army All European Track and Field Championships and was a 'walk-on' at USC Coastal where she was recognized as one of the region's top runners when she was named to the NCAA Track & Field Big South Conference in 1994. She graduated from CCU with a degree in History in 1995 and earned her Masters Degree from USC, Columbia in 1997.
In February 2000, Katherine represented her hometown of North Myrtle Beach in the Mrs. South Carolina International Pageant at the Litchfield Beach and Golf Resort. Katherine is currently an Adjunct Professor of History and has taught American History, Western Civilization and African American History.
Katherine is a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10804, served on the board of Directors of the North Myrtle Beach Citizens Association, the I-73 Association and is a Charter Member of the North Myrtle BeachChamber of Commerce. Katherine is very involved in sports activities as a runner, a Triathlete, an ocean kayaker, a sport shooter and an outdoorsman. [Link to US Congress 2010 Press Release]Katherine recieved her German Jump Wings at Ft. Bragg during the 11th Annual Randy Oler 'Operation Toy Drop' 2008 at Drop Zone Sicily.[Link to Photos]
Katherine lives in North Myrtle Beach with her husband Van, and their four children - a son in High School, Christian David, and three daughters, Benjamin Elizabeth, Drake Katherine, and Wilson Gabrielle. They all attend Horry County Public Schools. Christian and Benjamin are members of the NMB High School Cross Country and Track Teams and Benjamin was named the Sun News 'Toast of the Coast' Runner of the Year for High School Girls Cross Country. Katherine is a member of the First Baptist Church in North Myrtle Beach and an associate member of the Huguenot Protestant Church of Charleston.
SC SENATE ELECTION 2004: “...the good old boys' worst enemy..."
At 35-years old, as the Republican candidate for the South Carolina Senate in 2004, Katherine Jenerette scored an upset victory in Horry County, including North Myrtle Beach; which makes up nearly 70% of the SENATE District population.
Katherine, a Pro-Life, 2d Amendment, US Constitutional Strict Constructionist, nearly unseated one of the most powerful ‘Good Old Boy’ Democrat Senators in the state - Sen. Dick Elliott. Until this election, Elliott had never lost an election in Horry County, and was first elected to public office in the segregation era of 1962.[more Senate 2008 News Link: FITS 'She Might Be Senator']
After a bitter, hardball campaign; Senator Elliott only managed a slim victory of a mere 1,880 votes out of over 30,500 votes cast mainly because of his Democrat base in the western counties coupled with a major ‘error’ in the voters guide, published two days before the election. In the voters guide, Jenerette’s party affiliation was switched to Democrat (D) and it identified Democrat Senator Elliott as the incumbent (R) Republican candidate in the Senate race.
BACKGROUND and FAMILY
Katherine and Van Jenerette first met 22-years ago when both were stationed in Europe, worked together and later both competed as members of the V Corps Track and Field team. Years later, in 1992, they were married at the Myrtle Beach Air Force Base in a Christmas Eve service. Katherine worked, was an intercollegiate athelete, and had three children while attending college fulltime. They now have four children - a son in High School, Christian David, and three daughters, Benjamin Elizabeth, Drake Katherine, and Wilson Gabrielle.
The children all attend Horry County Public Schools. After retiring from the Army as an Infantry Major, Van served as a staff assistant to former U.S. Congressman Arthur Ravenel, Jr.; and served as a member of the North Myrtle Beach City Planning Commission and ex-officio member of the Horry County Planning board. He taught Political Science and Sociology at Southeastern Community College and was an Adjunct Instructor at Coastal Carolina University and the University of South Carolina, Columbia. Van, a graduate of the Infantry Officer Candidate School, was inducted into the US Army OCS Hall of Fame at Fort Benning in April 2002. Katherine's father was a career military man and as an Army dependent she lived and traveled the world including a total of eight years in Europe.
EDUCATION
MS - University of South Carolina, Columbia SC 1997. BA - University of South Carolina, Coastal Carolina Campus, Conway, SC 1995 Post Graduate Studies in History - 1996-1997 1991-1995 - University of South Carolina, Coastal Carolina Campus - History major. Course work included education major. 1989-1990 - University of Maryland Frankfurt, Germany (Overseas Division) took night and lunch-time classes toward Bachelor Degree. July - October 2008 - U.S. Army Officer Leadership Course - Military Police, United States Army Military Police School, Ft. Leonard Wood, MO June - July 2008 - U.S. Army Basic Officer Leadership Course, United States Army Infantry Center, Ft. Benning, GA Feb. - Mar. 2008 - U.S. Army Airborne Course, United States Army Infantry Center, Ft. Benning, GA Paratrooper Training.
Member Military Police Regimental Association (MPRA)
AWARDS and RECOGNITION
North Myrtle Beach Triathlon 2006 and 2007 1st in Age group - US Army Airborne Parachutist Badge - US Army Commendation Medal - Army Achievement Medal - NCO Professional Development Ribbon - ARMY Service Ribbon - National Defense Service Medal - SWA Service Ribbon - Marksman M-16 Marksmanship QualificationBadge - U. S. Army Europe, "Military Journalist of the Year" 1989 and 1990 - U.S. Army 2nd Runner-up, "Military Print Journalist of the Year" 1990 - U.S. Army Europe, "Editor, 1st Place Military Magazine" 1990 - NCAA Big South All Conference Runner 1994 - USATF Track & Field 2009 South Carolina State Masters Championship Meet 1500 meters and 800 meters.
PRESENTATIONS and PUBLICATIONS
Invited lecturer for Women Study Series at Southeastern Community College - The All American Super Woman in 2005. Spring 2005 Keynote speaker Horry County Veterans Memorial Dedication, Conway SC Veterans Day 2004 Veterans Sacrifice, and Americas Debt. Invited speaker, "A Re-Examination of the Insignia of the Notitia Dignitatum," 2nd Annual Late Antiquity Symposium, University of South Carolina, May 1998. "Desert Storm Recollections," North MyrtleBeach Library, North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina - Spring 1997. "TheMeaning of a Veteran" invited speaker, Veteran's Day Services, North Myrtle Beach, Nov. 1998. Schmidt, Katherine, "Rain, Rucksacks, and No Sleep," Spearhead Magazine Sept. 1989 Schmidt, Katherine, "It's EvenBetter Going Down," Spearhead Magazine June 1990.Source for experience in the Gulf War in British School: Living Through History: Britain 1750-1900 and the Twentieth Century World, Nigel Kelly, Rosemary Rees and Jane Shuter, (Oxford, England - Heinemann) 1998, "The Desert and the Storm - Personal Recollections of the Persian Gulf War," work in progress. Jenerette, Katherine, co-author "When the Last Baby Boomer Dies: An American Celebration," work in progress. Jenerette, Katherine, The NOTITIA DIGNITATUM: The Roman Empires Final Order of Battle from the Latin manuscript written during the 5th century A.D. about ROMAN ARMY MILITARY units and their deployment during the period of the late Roman Empire, work in progress.
VIDEO: Katherine Live in Myrtle Beach March 10, 2010 Town Hall Meeting
March 10, 2010 — From the Sun News: "Katherine Jenerette of North Myrtle Beach, an Army paratrooper, was essentially a Tea Party activist before there were Tea Parties, and she's already a crowd favorite with that group - listen to the moderator's introduction.
A former field employee for Brown, she ran against him from the right in 2008 and won 19 percent of the vote in the Republican primary. About 200 Grand Strand residents crammed into the Myrtle Beach Train Depot Thursday night for a town hall meeting sponsored by the Myrtle Beach Tea Party that mimicked an old-fashioned revival - with amens and answers from the crowd."
PUBLIC COMMUNITY SERVICE and FORMER POSITIONS
Member - North Myrtle Beach Planning Commission
Member - Ex-officio Envision 2025 Horry County Planning Department Steering Committee
Executive Committee VFW Myrtle Beach Viet Nam Moving Wall Exhibit November 2007
Myrtle Beach Track Club - USATF South Carolina Masters Competition 2009
Volunteer Assistant Girls Track Coach - North Myrtle Beach High School Spring 2009
POLITICAL BACKGROUND
2008 - Republican Candidate for U.S. Congress 1st Congressional District, SC
2006 - Campaign Volunteer SC Governor Mark Sanford
2006 - Campaign Co-Chair, Horry Co. SC Treasurer Thomas Ravenel
2006 - Campaign Field Representative SC Lt. Governor Mike Campbell
2005 - Member of I-73 Association and organization trip to Washington, DC
2004 - Republican Candidate for State Senate District 28 [See Senate Race Results Map]
2002-2004 - Field Representative to U.S. Rep. Henry E. Brown, Jr. (R)SC
2003 - Republican Women's Federation visit to D.C. U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond (R)SC
2002 - Campaign Worker U.S Rep. Robin Hayes(R)NC
2002 - Campaign Volunteer Elizabeth Dole(R) for US Senate
2000 - Campaign Volunteer George W. Bush(R) for President
1999 - Campaign Worker Elizabeth Dole(R) for President
1998 - Republican Candidate, Primary Horry County School Board
1994 - Campaign Volunteer Arthur Ravenel, Jr.(R) for SC Governor
1992 - Horry County Delegate to SC Republican State Convention
1992 - Chairman, Ways & Means Committee Horry County Republican Woman's Club
_______________________________________________________
"What is so different about Katherine Jenerette? For starters
...she's
a lot like the rest of us."
US Congressional Field Representative - US Army Persian Gulf War Veteran - USC Columbia Graduate - NCAA ‘Big South’ Award Track & Field USC-CCU - Married with Four Children - Drives a pickup truck - US Army Airborne Paratrooper - Not your Typical Politician…The time is now.
INTERVIEW | DMZ | CONSTITUTION DAY | PHOTOS A | PHOTOS B | STUFF1 | Hot New! JUNE 13, 2010
Military Images on this WEB SITE or Linked to This WEB SITE and Information Do Not Imply Endorsement by DoD or Service Branch