Tim Scott Proposed to His Real-Life Girlfriend and She Said Yes

While one’s marital status should not, theoretically, be an issue or really even anyone’s business when it comes to eligibility for higher office, Americans have historically not been enthusiastic about White House hopefuls without rings on their fingers. (Just two singletons—Grover Cleveland and James Buchanan—have made it to the White House since this country’s founding.) Which is why, back when he was a candidate for the GOP presidential nomination, Senator Tim Scott was regularly forced to answer questions about his unmarried status as a 50-something-year-old man—a matter he claimed had led to his competitors planting stories about him in the press. (Of course, Scott did not do himself any favors re: getting people to drop it by mentioning a romantic partner in an interview with The Washington Post yet refusing to identify her—which, to many, gave off strong “my girlfriend who lives in Canada“ vibes.) But then, during a debate last November, he produced the woman in question. And now, they’re getting married!

Per the Post:

Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), a former presidential candidate and possible Republican vice presidential nominee, proposed to his girlfriend, Mindy Noce, Saturday evening at the beach in Kiawah Island in South Carolina. She said yes. “As a guy who is mostly an introvert and on the quiet side, having to have a conversation about the engagement is a little, you know, uncomfortable in a way, but it’s the most exciting thing I’ll do with my life besides making Jesus my Lord,” Scott said in an interview Sunday.

“I’ve been very patient and prayerful, and I’m really excited and somewhat nervous, and I couldn’t be more thankful for having found a soul mate and someone who shares a lot of the same interests, passions, and goals that I do,” he said.

According to the Post, Noce is “a Charleston-area interior designer and mother of three who was previously married,” and Scott asked her parents for their blessing two weeks before popping the question. After initially considering doing it following a pickleball game, he “settled on a sunset proposal on Kiawah Island, prompting a long drive Saturday to the frigid beach.”

Early in his political career, Scott proudly declared that he was a 30-year-old virgin, and as recently as 2012, encouraged abstinence until marriage. “At the end of the day, the Bible is very clear: abstinence until marriage. Not to do so is a sin,” he told National Journal.

In other Scott news, on Friday, the GOP lawmaker endorsed Donald Trump’s bid for president, saying, “We need a president who sees Americans as one American family. And that’s why I came to the very warm state of New Hampshire to endorse the next president of these United States, President Donald Trump.” (Scott did not mention that Trump has endorsed violence against his “family.”)