In his 29 years of service to his county and his state, Representative Alex Harvin leaves a long and noted legacy of accomplishments and honors.

Rep. Harvin was a full-time legislator serving S. C. District 64 (Clarendon and Williamsburg counties) for 29 years, making him South Carolina’s longest continuously serving state representative.

He was president of the Charleston Southern University chapter of the Pi Gamma Mu Honor Society and president of the Class of 1972 there. He served as chairman of his college’s Young Democrats club. He was named to Who's Who Among Students at American Colleges & Universities.

He was student chairman of the American Bar Association’s Committee on International Exchange of Attorneys in 1972. He was a life member of Alpha Phi Omega National Service Fraternity and received their Outstanding Service Award in 1972.

Harvin was named a S. C. Hall of Fame Trustee and served as vice president in 1983-84 and as president in 1985-86.

Not only was he a long-standing member of the Clarendon County Historical Society, he was also inducted in the Huguenot Society of South Carolina in 1985 and into the First Families of S. C. in 1987.

He was a board member of the Confederation of S. C. Local Historical Societies Executive Council from 1985 to 1991, on the Board of Directors of the South Carolina Society from 1986-89.

He received several honorary doctorates including those from Sherman College in 1979; from Francis Marion University in 1985; and an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Charleston Southern University in 1988.

Long dedicated to education for all South Carolinians, he served on the Board of Visitors at Clemson University in 1977; at the Medical University of S. C. in 1986-87; and at Charleston Southern University from 1988-90, 1997-98.

He received the Distinguished Service Award from the S. C. Democratic Party in 1981 and the Legislative Service Award from UPS in 1984.

He was named “Freshman Legislator of the Year” by the University of S.C. Young Democrats in 1977; Legislator of the Year by the S.C. Student Legislature in 1981; the S.C. Young Democratic Legislator of the Year in 1982; the S.C. State Library Board Legislator of the Year in 1982; the S.C. Association for the Deaf Legislator of the Year in 1985 and 2001; and the S.C. Animal Control Association Legislator of the Year in 1986.

Harvin served as a delegate to the 1984 Democratic National Convention and as vice chairman of the S.C. Democratic Party from 1976 to 1978. He was chairman of the Clarendon County Democratic Party from 1979 until his death.

In the S.C. House of Representatives, Harvin took on a variety of leadership roles.

He was the Majority Whip from 1979-1982 and was elevated to Majority Leader in 1982. He served in that capacity until 1986. He was known from that time as “the Majority Leader Emeritus.” He served as vice chairman of the Joint Agriculture Study Committee; the vice chairman of the U.S. Constitution Bicentennial Committee; vice chairman of the NCSL Labor, Commerce & Economic Development Committee from 1985-90.

He was a member of the Masonic Lodge No. 105 (fourth generation). He was named to Who’s Who in the South, Who’s Who in Politics in the U.S. and Who’s Who in America.

In 2000, he was named as the Charleston Southern University’s Distinguished Alumni of the Year.

On July 11, 2005, Alex Harvin received South Carolina’s highest civilian honor, the Order of the Palmetto from Governor Mark Sanford.