Oscar Fred Lovelace is a physician

Physician

A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...

 in Prosperity, South Carolina

Prosperity, South Carolina

Prosperity is a town in Newberry County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 1,047 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Prosperity is located at ....

. He was a candidate for the Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 nomination for governor of South Carolina

Governor of South Carolina

The Governor of the State of South Carolina is the head of state for the State of South Carolina. Under the South Carolina Constitution, the Governor is also the head of government, serving as the chief executive of the South Carolina executive branch. The Governor is the ex officio...

. In the primary

Primary election

A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....

, scheduled for June 13, 2006, he sought to unseat the incumbent Republican governor, Mark Sanford

Mark Sanford

Marshall Clement "Mark" Sanford Jr. is an American politician from South Carolina, who was the 115th Governor of South Carolina from 2003 to 2011....

. However, Sanford defeated him with 65 percent of the vote.

Early years

Lovelace was born in Columbia, South Carolina

Columbia, South Carolina

Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...

 as one of three children of Virginia and Fred Lovelace; his sisters are Lynn and Karen. In 1981 he graduated with honors from Clemson University

Clemson University

Clemson University is an American public, coeducational, land-grant, sea-grant, research university located in Clemson, South Carolina, United States....

, where he was student body president and winner of the Algernon Sidney Sullivan Award for public service and the Norris Medal for overall excellence. It was there he met Mary Atkinson, whom he married in July 1982. They have four children: Ben, Spencer, Erin, and Luke.

In 1985, Lovelace graduated from the Medical University of South Carolina

Medical University of South Carolina

The Medical University of South Carolina opened in Charleston, South Carolina in 1824 as a small private college for the training of physicians. It is one of the oldest continually operating school of medicine in the United States and the oldest in the Deep South...

 in Charleston

Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

. Here, too, he was the student body president. He selected the field of Family Medicine

Family medicine

Family medicine is a medical specialty devoted to comprehensive health care for people of all ages. It is a division of primary care that provides continuing and comprehensive health care for the individual and family across all ages, sexes, diseases, and parts of the body...

 and completed a three-year residency at the University of Virginia

University of Virginia

The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...

. In 1988 he moved to Prosperity and opened the Lovelace Family Medicine office in a remodeled farmhouse.

Honors and awards

Lovelace's campaign website includes this paragraph about recognition of him and his practice:

Lovelace Family Medicine was recognized as Rural Practice of the Year in 1996 by the State Office of Rural Health. Dr. Lovelace was recognized as Wellspring Physician of the Year in 1998 by a nonprofit organization which recognizes one physician annually in the midlands of SC who practices holistic medicine - emphasizing compassionate care and sensitivity to the needs of others. Oscar was selected to be a member of nationally recognized Best Doctors in 2002 and named SC DHEC Physician of the Year in 2005 for the Midlands Health District. Lovelace Family Medicine was named the Outstanding Teaching Practice of the Year in 2006 for the South Carolina Area Health Education Consortium because of its work educating third year medical students who are assigned two month teaching rotations from the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. http://www.lovelaceforgovernor.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=26

Public affairs

In 2003, Sanford appointed Lovelace to co-chair the Governor’s Health Care Task Force along with former Governor James B. Edwards

James B. Edwards

James Burrows Edwards is a politician and administrator from South Carolina. He was the first Republican to be elected the Governor of South Carolina since Reconstruction.-Early life and career:...

. The Task Force produced a 16-page report.

Although Lovelace had contributed money to Sanford's 2002 campaign for governor, he was disappointed by Sanford's failure to press for implementation of the Health Care Task Force's recommendations. In challenging Sanford's bid for renomination, Lovelace also criticized "Governor Sanford’s libertarian ideology and inability to work together with leaders of his own party". http://www.lovelaceforgovernor.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=26

External links

• Lovelace for Governor website