Alvin Michael Greene (born August 30, 1977) is an American political candidate from the state of South Carolina. He was the Democratic Party's nominee in the 2010 United States Senate election in South Carolina, and was defeated by incumbent Republican Sen. Jim DeMint, 61.48% to 27.65%. Greene is the first African-American to be nominated for U.S. Senate by a major party in South Carolina. Greene is notable for the suspicions among members of his own party regarding the legitimacy of his 2010 primary victory, for his "strange, well-documented behavior on the campaign trail", for the intense media attention he received, and for pursuing his 2010 Senate bid despite having been indicted. He also ran for Congress in a February 2011 special election, receiving 37 votes. Early life and military service Greene was born in Florence, South Carolina. His father, James Greene Sr., is a retired teacher from the Clemson Extension program, a barber, and a nightclub owner "who wanted blacks to play a bigger role in politics and entertainment". Greene received a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of South Carolina in 2000. Greene served as a unit supply specialist in the U.S. Army from February 2007 to August 2009. He also previously served in the South Carolina Air National Guard from 1995 to 2002, on active duty with the U.S. Air Force as an intelligence specialist from July 2002 to September 2005 and with the Army National Guard for seven months prior to joining the Army. During Greene's time in the Air Force, he received numerous poor evaluations from his superiors. The evaluations stated that Greene was an ineffective leader who was disorganized, made costly errors, and could not clearly express his thoughts. Greene received an honorable but involuntary discharge from the Army in 2009 after a 13-year career. For his military service, Greene received the Air Force Good Conduct Medal, the Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Korea Defense Service Medal, the Non-Commissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon, the Army Service Ribbon and the Air Force Training Ribbon. Political campaigns U.S. Senate campaign, 2010 Democratic primary Greene said that he originally got the idea to run for office in 2008 when he was stationed in Korea. On June 8, 2010, he won the South Carolina Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, receiving 100,362 (59%) votes out