Russell Fry

Russell Fry
Official portrait, 2025
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from South Carolina's 7th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 3, 2023
Preceded byTom Rice
Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives
from the 106th district
In office
September 15, 2015 – November 14, 2022
Preceded byNelson Hardwick
Succeeded byThomas Val Guest
Personal details
BornRussell William Fry
(1985-01-31) January 31, 1985 (age 41)
Surfside Beach, South Carolina, U.S.
PartyRepublican
Spouse
Bronwen Fry
​
(m. 2014)​
Children1
EducationUniversity of South Carolina (BA)
Charleston School of Law (JD)
WebsiteHouse website
Campaign website

Russell William Fry (born January 31, 1985) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the U.S. representative for South Carolina's 7th congressional district since 2023. Previously, he represented the 106th District in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 2015 to 2022. He is a member of the Republican Party.

Fry was first elected to Congress in 2022 after defeating incumbent Tom Rice in the Republican primary. He was a candidate in the U.S. Senate special primary to replace Lindsey Graham, following his death. He placed third in the primary.

Early life and education

Fry was born on January 31, 1985 in Surfside Beach, South Carolina to Matthew and Sunny Fry. He has said that growing up, his family lived paycheck to paycheck in a cinderblock home. He has said that this taught him the value of hard work. He was an active member of the Boy scouts of America and he had earned the rank of Eagle Scout in the year of 2003.

Fry graduated from Socastee High School in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Afterwards, he self-funded his attendance at the University of South Carolina. He graduated in 2007 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science and a minor in business administration. In 2011, he received his JD from Charleston School of Law, and works as an attorney at Coastal Law LLC.

South Carolina House of Representatives (2015–2022)

In May 2015, State Representative Nelson Hardwick announced his resignation after House leadership investigated sexual harassment allegations against him. Fry ran in the special election for Hardwick's seat. He won a plurality of the vote in the Republican primary in July and advanced to a runoff against Tyler Servant. Fry won the runoff, and was unopposed in the general election. From 2019 through 2022, he served as the Chief Majority Whip for the 123rd and 124th South Carolina General Assemblies. During this time, he also served on the House Opioid Abuse Prevention Study Committee, a committee he chaired in 2020.

U.S. House of Representatives (2023–present)

Elections

2022

Official portrait, 2023

In the aftermath of the 2021 United States Capitol attack, Tom Rice, who was serving as the U.S. representative for South Carolina's 7th congressional district, unexpectedly voted in favor of impeaching President Donald Trump. Fry criticized Rice for his vote, and said he was considering running against him in 2022. In August 2021, Fry announced that he would challenge Rice in the 2022 election, emphasizing his opposition to Trump's impeachment. On February 1, 2022, Trump endorsed Fry. In the June 14 Republican primary, Fry defeated Rice by 26.6 percentage points. On November 8, Fry was elected to Congress with 64.8% of the vote, defeating Democratic nominee Daryl Scott.

2024

2026

2022 Republican primary results by precinct
  Fry
  •   20–30%
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  •   80–90%
  Rice
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   90–100%
  Arthur
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  Barton
  •   20–30%
  •   30–40%
  Richardson
  •   30–40%

Tenure

Fry was elected to serve as the president of the congressional freshman class during orientation week. On January 16, 2023, it was announced that Fry would serve on the House Judiciary Committee.

Caucus memberships

Political positions

Syria

In 2023, Fry was among 47 Republicans to vote in favor of H.Con.Res. 21, which directed President Joe Biden to remove U.S. troops from Syria within 180 days.

Somalia

In 2023, Fry was among 52 Republicans who voted in favor H.Con.Res. 30, which would remove American troops from Somalia.

Antisemitism

Fry was among the 187 Republicans who voted in favor of H.R. 6090: The Antisemitism Awareness Act. The act would require the use of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism "when reviewing or investigating complaints of discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance." The American Civil Liberties Union, along with other organizations, warned against the adoption of this definition as it could limit free speech surrounding criticism of Israel on college campuses.

Israel

Fry voted to provide Israel with support following the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

Electoral history

2015 South Carolina House of Representatives District 106 special Republican primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Russell Fry 1,152 44.8%
Republican Tyler Servant 856 33.3%
Republican Roy W Sprinkle 374 14.5%
Republican Sanford Cox Graves 192 7.5%
Total votes 2,574 100.0%
2015 South Carolina House of Representatives District 106 special Republican primary runoff
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Russell Fry 1,738 59.8%
Republican Tyler Servant 1,167 40.2%
Total votes 2,905 100.0%
2015 South Carolina House of Representatives District 106 special election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Russell Fry 438 98.0%
Write-in 9 2.0%
Total votes 447 100.0%
106th District General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Russell Fry (incumbent) 17,841 99.46
Write-in 97 0.54
Total votes 17,938 100.0
Republican hold
106th District general election, 2018
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Russell Fry (incumbent) 13,198 68.38
TOTAL Robin Gause 6,088 31.54
Democratic Robin Gause 5,779 29.94
Working Families Robin Gause 182 0.94
American Robin Gause 127 0.66
Write-in 14 0.07
Total votes 19,300 100.0
Republican hold
106th District General Election, 2020
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Russell Fry (incumbent) 24,092 98.46
Write-in 376 1.54
Total votes 24,468 100.0
Republican hold
Republican primary results, 2022
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Russell Fry 43,509 51.1
Republican Tom Rice (incumbent) 20,927 24.6
Republican Barbara Arthur 10,481 12.3
Republican Ken Richardson 6,021 7.1
Republican Garrett Barton 2,154 2.5
Republican Mark Struthers McBride 1,676 2.0
Republican Spencer Morris 444 0.5
Total votes 85,212 100.0
2022 South Carolina's 7th congressional district election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Russell Fry 164,440 64.77%
Democratic Daryl W. Scott 89,030 35.07%
Write-in 395 0.16%
Total votes 253,865 100.00%
Majority 75,410 29.70%
Republican hold
2024 South Carolina's 7th congressional district election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Russell Fry (incumbent) 240,326 64.9
Democratic Mal Hyman 129,522 35.0
Write-in 481 0.1
Total votes 370,329 100.0
Republican hold
Results by county:
  Graham
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  Norman
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  Fry
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
Republican special primary results, 2026
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Darline Graham (incumbent) 109,881 32.8
Republican Ralph Norman 82,627 24.6
Republican Russell Fry 65,955 19.7
Republican Mark Sanford 50,136 14.9
Republican Mark Lynch 19,892 5.9
Republican Danny Ford II 2,804 0.8
Republican Duke Buckner 1,583 0.5
Republican Glenda Gail Parker 977 0.3
Republican Samuel Shepherd 931 0.3
Republican Mark McBride 769 0.2
Total votes 335,555 100.0

Personal life

Fry is a Baptist. On October 10, 2014, he married Bronwen Fry; they have one son.