Hugh Thompson Rice Jr. (born August 4, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for South Carolina's 7th congressional district from 2013 to 2023.

[6] Rice lost the Republican nomination in the June 14 primary to South Carolina state representative Russell Fry, garnering less than 25% of the vote.

Rice's first job was a busboy when he was 12, and he was variously a night shift fry cook, a grocery store bag boy, and miniature golf course manager while still in high school.

[9] He was elected chair of the Horry County Council in 2010, serving until he resigned from the position on December 31, 2012, in order to take his seat in Congress.

He defeated Jay Jordan, Randal Wallace, Dick Withington, James Mader, Chad Prosser, Katherine Jenerette, and Renee Culler in the June 12 Republican primary to advance to a runoff.

[12][13] On January 8, 2013, Congressman Sam Graves appointed Rice chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax and Capital Access.

[21] Rice has pushed changes to port funding[22][23] and offered victims help to replace Social Security cards and other federal documents after a massive fire destroyed 26 condo buildings in the Myrtle Beach area.

In December 2020, Rice was one of 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives to sign an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Joe Biden defeated incumbent Donald Trump.

[31] On May 19, 2021, Rice was one of 35 Republicans who joined all Democrats in voting to approve legislation to establish the January 6 commission meant to investigate the storming of the U.S.

[32] On February 1, 2022, Trump endorsed state representative Russell Fry in the Republican congressional primary in retaliation for Rice's vote for impeachment.

Trump said, "Congressman Tom Rice of South Carolina, the coward who abandoned his constituents by caving to Nancy Pelosi and the Radical Left, and who actually voted against me on Impeachment Hoax #2, must be thrown out of office.

"[34] Rice was interviewed by NBC News on June 13, 2022, and when asked about Trump's actions, he said, "He threw a temper tantrum that culminated with the sacking of the United States Capitol" and "It's a direct attack on the Constitution, and he should be held accountable".