South Carolina gubernatorial election, 1998
Encyclopedia
The 1998 South Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1998 to select the governor
of the state of South Carolina
. Jim Hodges
, the Democratic
nominee, handily defeated Republican
Governor David Beasley
to become the 114th governor of South Carolina. Beasley was the first incumbent governor to be defeated for reelection since Daniel Henry Chamberlain
in the disputed election of 1876
.
, a state representative
from the Midlands
, faced no opposition from South Carolina Democrats
and avoided a primary election
.
held their primary
on June 9, 1998 and it was a sign of trouble that Governor
David Beasley
faced opposition to his reelection within his own party. Nonetheless, he easily defeated Bill Able, an attorney from Columbia
, to become the Republican nominee for governor in the general election.
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 mom
s 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.
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.
| colspan=5 |Democratic
gain from Republican
|-
Governor of South Carolina
The Governor of the State of South Carolina is the head of state for the State of South Carolina. Under the South Carolina Constitution, the Governor is also the head of government, serving as the chief executive of the South Carolina executive branch. The Governor is the ex officio...
of the state of South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
. Jim Hodges
Jim Hodges
James Hovis "Jim" Hodges is a Democrat who served one term as the 114th Governor of South Carolina from 1999 until 2003.-Early career:...
, the Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
nominee, handily defeated Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Governor David Beasley
David Beasley
David Muldrow Beasley is a Republican who served one term as the 113th Governor of South Carolina from 1995 until 1999....
to become the 114th governor of South Carolina. Beasley was the first incumbent governor to be defeated for reelection since Daniel Henry Chamberlain
Daniel Henry Chamberlain
Daniel Henry Chamberlain was a planter, lawyer, author and the 76th Governor of South Carolina from 1874 until 1877....
in the disputed election of 1876
South Carolina gubernatorial election, 1876
The 1876 South Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1876 to select the governor of the state of South Carolina. The election campaign was a referendum on the Radical Republican-led state government and their Reconstruction policies...
.
Democratic primary
Jim HodgesJim Hodges
James Hovis "Jim" Hodges is a Democrat who served one term as the 114th Governor of South Carolina from 1999 until 2003.-Early career:...
, a state representative
South Carolina House of Representatives
The South Carolina House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Carolina General Assembly, the upper house being the South Carolina Senate. It consists of 124 Representatives elected to two year terms at the same time as US Congressional elections...
from the Midlands
Midlands, South Carolina
The Midlands roughly refers to an area in the middle of South Carolina. Columbia is the largest city in the region and location of the state government...
, faced no opposition from South Carolina Democrats
South Carolina Democratic Party
The South Carolina Democratic Party is the South Carolina affiliate of the United States Democratic Party. The Democratic party thrived during the Second Party System between 1832 and the mid-1850s and was one of the causes of the collapse of the Whig Party....
and avoided a primary election
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
.
Republican primary
The South Carolina Republican PartySouth Carolina Republican Party
The South Carolina Republican Party and the South Carolina Democratic Party are the two major political parties within the U.S. state of South Carolina...
held their primary
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
on June 9, 1998 and it was a sign of trouble that Governor
Governor of South Carolina
The Governor of the State of South Carolina is the head of state for the State of South Carolina. Under the South Carolina Constitution, the Governor is also the head of government, serving as the chief executive of the South Carolina executive branch. The Governor is the ex officio...
David Beasley
David Beasley
David Muldrow Beasley is a Republican who served one term as the 113th Governor of South Carolina from 1995 until 1999....
faced opposition to his reelection within his own party. Nonetheless, he easily defeated Bill Able, an attorney from Columbia
Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...
, to become the Republican nominee for governor in the general election.
| Republican Primary | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % |
General election
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 SATSAT
The SAT Reasoning Test is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. The SAT is owned, published, and developed by the College Board, a nonprofit organization in the United States. It was formerly developed, published, and scored by the Educational Testing Service which still...
scores and the low achievement levels by the students of the state. Beasley was cited for his opposition to all-day kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
and Hodges proposed a state lottery
South Carolina Education Lottery
The South Carolina Education Lottery began in 2002.South Carolina is a member of the Multi-State Lottery Association , best known for Powerball...
to pay for the funding of pre-school and to also grant college scholarships. The lottery proved to be enormously popular with blacks
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
because many could not afford to send their children to pre-school and with soccer mom
Soccer mom
The phrase soccer mom broadly refers to a middle-class suburban woman who spends a significant amount of her time transporting her school-age children to their sporting events or other activities. Indices of American magazines and newspapers show relatively little usage of the term until a 1995...
s who were worried by the rapidly increasing cost of higher education
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
.
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
Flip-flop (politics)
A "flip-flop" , U-turn , or backflip is a sudden real or apparent change of policy or opinion by a public official, sometimes while trying to claim that both positions are consistent with each other...
on the Confederate flag
Flags of the Confederate States of America
There were only three flag designs adopted, with later, minor variants made to those designs, that served as the official national flags of the Confederate States of America and used during its existence from 1861 to 1865...
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
Bubba
In American usage, bubba is a relationship nickname formed from brother and given to boys, especially eldest male siblings, to indicate their role in a family. For some boys and men, bubba is used so pervasively that it replaces the given name...
." Portrayed by Kerry Maher, Bubba was Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
convenience store clerk dressed in Georgia Bulldogs
Georgia Bulldogs
The Georgia Bulldogs are the athletic teams of the University of Georgia. The Bulldogs compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference...
garb who spoke with a thick Southern accent
Southern American English
Southern American English is a group of dialects of the English language spoken throughout the Southern region of the United States, from Southern and Eastern Maryland, West Virginia and Kentucky to the Gulf Coast, and from the Atlantic coast to most of Texas and Oklahoma.The Southern dialects make...
. 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
South Carolina Gamecocks
The University of South Carolina's 19 varsity sports teams are known as the "Gamecocks". The unique moniker is held in honor of Thomas Sumter, a South Carolina war hero who was given the name "The Carolina Gamecock" during the American Revolution for his fierce fighting tactics, regardless of his...
fans when he made appearances at Williams-Brice Stadium
Williams-Brice Stadium
Williams-Brice Stadium is the home football stadium for the South Carolina Gamecocks, the college football team representing the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina...
for USC
University of South Carolina
The University of South Carolina is a public, co-educational research university located in Columbia, South Carolina, United States, with 7 surrounding satellite campuses. Its historic campus covers over in downtown Columbia not far from the South Carolina State House...
football games.
The general election was held on November 3, 1998 and Jim Hodges was decisively elected as the next governor of South Carolina
Governor of South Carolina
The Governor of the State of South Carolina is the head of state for the State of South Carolina. Under the South Carolina Constitution, the Governor is also the head of government, serving as the chief executive of the South Carolina executive branch. The Governor is the ex officio...
. Unsurprisingly, Hodges performed extremely well in the rural counties, but it was the unexpectedly strong vote of the Lowcountry
South Carolina Low Country
The Lowcountry is a geographic and cultural region located along South Carolina's coast. The region includes the South Carolina Sea Islands...
in his favor that enabled Hodges to defeat Beasley. Turnout
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...
was much less percentage-wise than the previous election
South Carolina gubernatorial election, 1994
The 1994 South Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1994 to select the governor of the state of South Carolina. The contest featured two politicians from the Upstate and David Beasley narrowly defeated Nick Theodore to become the 113th governor of South Carolina.-Democratic...
because approximately a half-million new voters were added to the rolls, but many of those chose not to vote in the election.
| colspan=5 |Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
gain from Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
|-
See also
- Governor of South CarolinaGovernor of South CarolinaThe Governor of the State of South Carolina is the head of state for the State of South Carolina. Under the South Carolina Constitution, the Governor is also the head of government, serving as the chief executive of the South Carolina executive branch. The Governor is the ex officio...
- List of Governors of South Carolina
- South Carolina gubernatorial elections