Tim Scott brings girlfriend, Mindy, to Republican debate in Miami

MIAMI — Tim Scott had a very special guest at Wednesday's Republican presidential primary debate: His girlfriend.

A campaign statement said the woman who greeted Scott onstage after the debate and posed for a picture with him "is his girlfriend Mindy."

The mystery woman was later identified as Mindy Noce, a design and renovations manager in Charleston, S.C.

Scott's social life has been the subject of campaign curiosity; the 58-year-old South Carolina senator has never been married. In post-debate interviews, Scott said he and Noce have been dating for "about a year or so," and she was at his campaign launch event earlier this year.

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Scott earlier this year talked about his girlfriend at an Iowa campaign stop, reflecting on his upbringing and his faith as he addressed his relationship. At the event, Scott spoke to Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird about COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other policies, but she also asked if there was a “special lady” in his life, other than his mother.

"Yes," Scott said, calling his girlfriend "a lovely Christian girl” before joking to the crowd at the event, “Can we just pray together for me?”

The South Carolina lawmaker added, “As a guy who was raised in a single-parent household mired in poverty, I understand the devastation when a family breaks up. I had to live with the consequences of a father who was not there. I made a commitment to make sure that never happened in my life."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tim Scott brings girlfriend, Mindy, to Republican debate in Miami