General election campaign
Hodges started the campaign with a low name recognition across the state and early on it was decided by his camp to make education as their chief issue for the election. Immediately, Hodges blamed Governor Beasley for the poor SAT scores and the low achievement levels by the students of the state. Beasley was cited for his opposition to all-day kindergarten and Hodges proposed a state lottery to pay for the funding of pre-school and to also grant college scholarships. The lottery proved to be enormously popular with blacks because many could not afford to send their children to pre-school and with soccer moms who were worried by the rapidly increasing cost of higher education.
Beasley responded by trying to shift the focus of the campaign to Hodges' ties to the gambling industry. As much as 70% of the money supplied to Hodges campaign was given by the video poker operators. In addition, the Palmetto League was being financed by video poker to attack Beasley's flip-flopping on the Confederate flag issue. Hodges keenly avoided discussing the Confederate flag issue to enable him to keep the support of blacks while also attracting disaffected whites.
To tie in South Carolinians' dissatisfaction with education of the state and the Confederate flag issue, Kevin Geddings of the Hodges campaign created a series of ads featuring a character called "Bubba." Portrayed by Kerry Maher, Bubba was Georgia convenience store clerk dressed in Georgia Bulldogs garb who spoke with a thick Southern accent. The 30 second ads featured Bubba talking about how the Georgia lottery money was being used to improve schools there and the commercials would always end by Bubba saying, "Here in Georgia, we love David Beasley." Bubba was quickly elevated to celebrity status in South Carolina and was even adored by Gamecock fans when he made appearances at Williams-Brice Stadium for USC football games.
Results
The general election was held on November 3, 1998 and Jim Hodges was decisively elected as the next governor of South Carolina. Unsurprisingly, Hodges performed extremely well in the rural counties, but it was the unexpectedly strong vote of the Lowcountry in his favor that enabled Hodges to defeat Beasley. Turnout was much less percentage-wise than the previous election because approximately a half-million new voters were added to the rolls, but many of those chose not to vote in the election.
David Ronald Musgrove is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 62nd governor of Mississippi from 2000 to 2004. A Democrat, he previously served as the 29th lieutenant governor of Mississippi from 1996 to 2000. He was the Democratic nominee in the 2008 special election for one of Mississippi's seats in the United States Senate, losing to incumbent Senator Roger Wicker. Musgrove is a principal at a public affairs consulting firm, Politics. In 2014, he became founding partner of a new law firm in Jackson, Mississippi, Musgrove/Smith Law. As of 2024, he is the most recent Democrat to hold the office of Governor of Mississippi.
James Hovis Hodges is an American businessman, attorney, and politician who served as the 114th governor of South Carolina from 1999 to 2003. A former member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, Hodges is the most recent Democrat to serve as the state's governor.
David Muldrow Beasley is an American politician and the former executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme. A member of the Republican Party, he served one term as the 113th Governor of South Carolina from 1995 until 1999 before losing reelection to Democrat Jim Hodges. He also served as a state representative from 1981 until 1995.
Southern Democrats are members of the U.S. Democratic Party who reside in the Southern United States.
The 2006 South Carolina gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 2006. Incumbent Republican Governor Mark Sanford won re-election against Democratic State Senator Tommy Moore, becoming only the third Republican governor in South Carolina to win a second term. Sanford started the campaign with a double-digit edge over Moore and he maintained that lead to election day. During the campaign, Sanford's approval rating averaged in the mid-fifties. In Sanford's re-election victory, he also garnered 22% of the African American vote.
The 2006 South Carolina State Elections took place on November 7, 2006, and included the gubernatorial election. All nine popularly elected constitutional officers were up for reelection, and all races except the Attorney General's were contested. The entire South Carolina House of Representatives, one state senator and six state circuit solicitors were also up for election. Several constitutional amendments were also on the ballot.
United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 5, 2002, in 36 states and two territories. The Republicans won eight seats previously held by the Democrats, as well as the seat previously held by Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura, who was elected on the Reform Party ticket but had since renounced his party affiliation. The Democrats won 10 seats previously held by the Republicans, as well as the seat previously held by Maine governor Angus King, an independent. The elections were held concurrently with the other United States elections of 2002.
United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 3, 1998, in 36 states and two territories. Going into the election cycle, 24 of the seats were held by Republicans, 11 by Democrats, and one by an Independent. The elections changed the national balance of power by the loss of one Republican and the gain of one Independent, although political party dominance was shifted in nine states. Democrats gained open seats in California and Iowa and defeated incumbents Fob James of Alabama and David Beasley of South Carolina, while Republicans won open seats in Colorado, Florida, Nebraska, and Nevada and the Reform Party won an open Republican governorship in Minnesota. By the end of the election, 23 seats were held by Republicans, 11 by Democrats, one by the Reform Party, and one by an Independent.
United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 7, 2000, in 11 states and two territories. The elections coincided with the presidential election. Democrats gained one seat by defeating an incumbent in West Virginia. As of 2024, this remains the last gubernatorial cycle in which a Democrat won in Indiana.
The 1878 South Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1878 to select the governor of South Carolina. Wade Hampton III was renominated by the Democrats and ran against no organized opposition in the general election to win reelection for a second two-year term.
The 1990 South Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1990 to select the governor of the state of South Carolina. Governor Carroll A. Campbell Jr., the popular Republican incumbent, handily defeated Democrat Theo Mitchell to become only the second governor at the time elected to a second consecutive four-year term.
The 2002 South Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 2002, to select the governor of the state of South Carolina. Mark Sanford, the Republican nominee, defeated incumbent Democratic governor Jim Hodges to become the 115th governor of South Carolina. Hodges became only the third incumbent governor and the first Democratic governor in South Carolina history to lose reelection.
The 1882 South Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1882 to select the governor of the state of South Carolina. Hugh Smith Thompson was nominated by the Democrats and ran against J. Hendrix McLane, a Greenback-Labor candidate. Thompson easily won the general election and became the 81st governor of South Carolina.
The 2010 South Carolina gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 2010. Incumbent Republican Governor Mark Sanford was term limited and unable to seek re-election. Primary elections took place on June 8, 2010, and a runoff election, as was necessary on the Republican side, was held two weeks later on June 22.
Terry Edward Haskins was a South Carolina Republican politician who served as the Speaker pro-tempore of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1995 until his death five years later.
The 1998 United States Senate election in South Carolina was held November 3, 1998. Incumbent Senator Fritz Hollings won reelection to his seventh term. As of 2024, this is the last time that a Democrat has won a U.S. Senate election in South Carolina. This is also the last time the Democratic nominee for this Senate seat was a white man, as in future elections Democrats would either nominate a woman and/or a person of color.
The 2004 United States Senate election in South Carolina was held on November 2, 2004. Longtime incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Fritz Hollings retired, and Republican U.S. Representative Jim DeMint won the open seat. DeMint was the first Republican to hold this Senate seat since 1879. This marked the first time since Reconstruction that Republicans held both Senate seats in South Carolina simultaneously.
The 1994 Georgia gubernatorial election occurred on November 8, 1994, to elect the next governor of Georgia from 1995 to 1999. Incumbent Democratic governor Zell Miller, first elected in 1990, ran for a second term. In his party's primary, Miller received three challengers, but easily prevailed with just over 70% of the vote. The contest for the Republican nomination, however, was a competitive race. As no candidate received a majority of the vote, John Knox and Guy Millner advanced to a run-off election. Millner was victorious and received the Republican nomination after garnering 59.41% of the vote.
Elections were held in South Carolina on Tuesday, November 2, 2010. Primary elections were held on June 8, 2010, and a run-off election for certain contests was held on June 22, 2010.
