Keitt was the representative for South Carolina’s 3rd congressional district and was a Democrat. He served from 1859 to 1861.
He was previously the representative for South Carolina’s 3rd congressional district as a Democrat from 1857 to 1859; the representative for South Carolina’s 3rd congressional district as a Democrat from 1855 to 1857; and the representative for South Carolina’s 3rd congressional district as a Democrat from 1853 to 1855.
Misconduct
Keitt faced an allegation of complicity in the assault on Sumner. On Jun. 2, 1856, a select committee recommended censure in a majority report. On Jul. 15, 1856, the House of Representatives censured him, 106-96. On Jul. 16, 1856, he resigned after the vote. On Aug. 6, 1856, he was reelected.
| Jun. 2, 1856 | Select committee recommended censure in a majority report. |
| Jul. 15, 1856 | House of Representatives censured 106-96 |
| Jul. 16, 1856 | Resigned after the vote. |
| Aug. 6, 1856 | Reelected. |
Voting Record
Missed Votes
From Dec 1853 to Dec 1860, Keitt missed 960 of 2,126 roll call votes, which is 45.2%. This is much worse than the median of 24.1% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Dec 1860. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses, major life events, and running for higher office.
Primary Sources
The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:
- unitedstates/congress-legislators, a community project gathering congressional information
- United States Congressional Roll Call Voting Records, 1789-1990 by Howard L. Rosenthal and Keith T. Poole.
- Martis’s “The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress”, via Keith Poole’s roll call votes data set, for political party affiliation for Members of Congress from 1789 through about year 2000
