Patterson, Liz, 1939-2018

Elizabeth Johnston Patterson (November 18, 1939 – November 10, 2018) was an American politician from South Carolina. A member of the Democratic Party, she was a three-term member of the United States House of Representatives from 1987 to 1993.

Born Gladys Elizabeth Johnston, she was the daughter of Olin D. Johnston, Governor and Senator from South Carolina. Raised in Kensington, Maryland, she graduated from Spartanburg High School in Spartanburg, South Carolina, in 1957. In 1961 she received her bachelor’s degree at Columbia College in Columbia, South Carolina. She subsequently studied political science at the University of South Carolina. Early in her career, Johnston 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. In 1967, she married Dwight Patterson. She returned to live in Spartanburg County, where she was elected to the County Council, serving from 1975 to 1976. In 1978 she was elected to the South Carolina State Senate, serving from 1979 to 1986.

In 1986, Patterson was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina's 4th congressional district, the first woman elected to the U.S. House from South Carolina in her own right. Patterson campaigned as a fiscal conservative with a social conscience. As a moderate, she supported abortion rights but also advocated giving aid to the Nicaragua Contra rebels, opposed gun control, and supported the death penalty. Patterson defended the beleaguered textile industry, which, until the 1980s, when it began losing to foreign competition, had been a major employer in her district. Though she won narrow re-election victories in 1988 and 1990 due to her conservative credentials, she narrowly lost in 1992.

Patterson was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina in 1994. She earned a Master of Arts degree in liberal arts from Converse College in 1999. Patterson taught political science at Spartanburg Methodist College, as well as being on the board of trustees, and was the chairwoman of the Spartanburg County Democratic Party. Paterson died on November 10, 2018, just eight days shy of her 79th birthday.