At age 30, Hodges first won an election in a December 1986 special election for the 45th district seat in the South Carolina House of Representatives vacated by the late Tom Mangum. While serving in the state legislature, Hodges also worked as general counsel for The Springs Company.
Hodges entered the 1998 gubernatorial election in South Carolina an underdog but took advantage of controversy and missteps by incumbent Republican governor David Beasley, namely Beasley's indecisiveness on allowing a Confederate flag to fly at the state capitol and call to eliminate video poker. In what was reported as an upset victory,
Term as governor (1999–2003)
As South Carolina's 114th governor, Hodges signed a law that made Martin Luther King, Jr. Day an official state holiday; South Carolina was the last state in the U.S. to do so. That law also added a Confederate Memorial Day, a move that drew opposition from the NAACP. He played an instrumental role in moving the Confederate flag from the state Capitol's dome to its grounds. He also instituted the construction of the New Cooper River Bridge in Charleston, which is North America's longest cabled spanned bridge. Public education was a major focus in the Hodges administration, as Hodges oversaw the founding of the South Carolina Education Lottery and the First Steps preschool initiative. The governor also helped pass a $1.1 billion school construction initiative, and the lottery funded millions in college scholarships to South Carolina students. Hodges received criticism in his first year in office for his management of the Hurricane Floyd evacuation, particularly his decision not to make Interstate 26 one-way westbound. Hodges also received blame for financial problems with the state Department of Commerce and long lines at Division of Motor Vehicles offices. In 2003, the University of South Carolina self-reported to the NCAA several secondary recruiting violations on Hodges' part. Hodges had met with recruits, something he was prohibited from doing as an ex-oficio trustee of the university.
Gubernatorial election, 2002
Like Hodges' 1998 bid, the race concentrated on issues such as education and the state budget. On November 5, 2002, former U.S. Representative Mark Sanford defeated Hodges in the general election for governor, 53 to 47 percent. During the campaign, Sanford "likened Hodges to a weasel and to former President Bill Clinton and Al Gore," reported The State in October 2002. To date, Hodges remains the last Democrat to have served as governor of South Carolina.
