State Rep. Kenneth Hodges will not seek re-election this year
State Rep. Kenneth Hodges will not seek re-election to his S.C. House District 121 seat this fall.
The Green Pond Democrat and pastor of Beaufort's Tabernacle Baptist Church has held the seat representing parts of northern Beaufort and southern Colleton counties since Aug. 2005.
Hodges said in an email statement that he now wants to focus on his personal and business life and will not seek any other elected office.
"I just think the timing is right," Hodges added when reached Monday. "There are so many other things that I have left unfinished as it relates to my ministry and my business."
Before Hodges leaves office, however, he will continue to focus on legislation that helps small and micro businesses, and legislation that helps honor S.C. history, he said. Both have been hallmarks of his decade in the legislature, including the Microenterprise Development Act in 2014 that directed the state to award grants to organizations promoting businesses with five or fewer employees, he added.
"If you look back, any piece of legislation that deals with microbusiness was offered by me or I shepherded it all the way through," Hodges said. "I believe in self sufficiency, and I believe in some of our rural and remote areas, self employment is their major (opportunity) out of poverty."
Once his term ends, Hodges will focus on service at the church and the archives at Beaufort's LyBensons' Gallery and Studio, which he owns. The gallery has records on hundreds of historic figures -- jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie, poet and activist Maya Angelou and author James Baldwin -- that Hodges hopes to turn into biographies.
Hodges ran unsuccessfully for the late state Sen. Clementa Pinckney's seat last fall after Pinckney, whom he considered a close friend and colleague, was gunned down alongside eight of his parishioners at his Charleston church in June.
Hodges lost in a Democratic primary runoff against Walterboro attorney Margie Bright Matthews. She went on to win the heavily Democratic district in a landslide and is now the second woman now serving in the S.C. Senate.
Follow reporter Zach Murdock on Twitter at twitter.com/IPBG_Zach and on Facebook at facebook.com/IPBGZach.
Related content:
- Margie Bright Matthews to become second woman serving in S.C. Senate, Oct. 20, 2015
- State Senate candidate Margie Bright Matthews pays delinquent taxes ahead of auction, Oct. 11, 2015
- Bright Matthews wins runoff, will face Republican Alberto Fernandez in special election, Sept. 15, 2015
- Senate District 45 candidates' election paperwork raises questions about home addresses, Sept. 5, 2015
- Election preview: Sen. Clementa Pinckney's replacement must tackle disparity issues, Aug. 30, 2015
This story was originally published January 4, 2016 at 3:04 PM with the headline "State Rep. Kenneth Hodges will not seek re-election this year."