South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley will announce whom she's picked to replace Sen. Jim DeMint in a press conference Monday at noon, and The New York Times' Jennifer Steinhauer and Jeff Zeleny now report that person will be Rep. Tim Scott. The move would make Scott, an African-American Tea Party Republican whom DeMint reportedly preferred as his successor, the only black senator. DeMint is leaving the Senate early to lead the Heritage Foundation. Update: And it's official: Haley picked Scott. She said she expects him to "fly through 2014," when he'll be up for reelection.

Overqualified comedian Stephen Colbert launched a Twitter campaign to get Haley to appoint him to the seat. Haley played along by publishing a massive oppo research dump on Colbert on Facebook.

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Elspeth Reeve