Liz J. Patterson

Who is Liz J. Patterson?

Elizabeth Johnston "Liz" Patterson is an American politician from the Democratic Party. She is a former member of the United States House of Representatives. Her father, Olin D. Johnston, served as Governor of South Carolina and as U.S. Senator from South Carolina.

Patterson grew up in Kensington, Maryland. She graduated from Columbia College of South Carolina and did graduate work at the University of South Carolina. She worked in Washington, D.C., for the Peace Corps and the Office of Economic Opportunity during the Administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson. Patterson also worked as the South Carolina director of the Head Start Program and as an assistant to Congressman James R. Mann.

Patterson served on the Spartanburg County Council from 1975 to 1976 and in the South Carolina State Senate from 1979 to 1986. She was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina's 4th congressional district in 1986, succeeding Carroll A. Campbell, Jr., who had given up the seat to make a successful run for Governor of South Carolina. She narrowly defeated Greenville mayor Bill Workman, despite Campbell's presence atop the ticket. She was the first woman elected to Congress from South Carolina in her own right; the previous three, Elizabeth Hawley Gasque, Willa L. Fulmer and Corinne Boyd Riley], served as caretakers after their husbands died in office.