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 County results Hodges: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Beasley: 40–50% 50–60% | |||||||||||||||||
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The1998 South Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1998 to select thegovernor of the state ofSouth Carolina.Jim Hodges, theDemocratic nominee, handily defeatedRepublican governorDavid Beasley to become the114th governor of South Carolina. Beasley was the first incumbent governor to be defeated for reelection sinceDaniel Henry Chamberlain in the disputedelection of 1876. As of 2026, this was the last time that a Democrat was elected Governor of South Carolina, and the only time since 1982.
Jim Hodges, astate representative from theMidlands, faced no opposition fromSouth Carolina Democrats and avoided aprimary election.
TheSouth Carolina Republican Party held theirprimary on June 9, 1998 and it was a sign of trouble thatGovernorDavid Beasley faced opposition to his reelection within his own party. Nonetheless, he easily defeated Bill Able, anattorney fromColumbia, to become the Republican nominee for governor in the general election.
| Republican Primary | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| David Beasley(incumbent) | 114,082 | 72.2 |
| Bill Able | 43,967 | 27.8 |
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 poorSAT scores and the low achievement levels by the students of the state. Beasley was cited for his opposition to all-daykindergarten and Hodges proposed astate lottery to pay for the funding ofpre-school and to also grantcollege scholarships. The lottery proved to be enormously popular withblacks because many could not afford to send their children to pre-school and withsoccer moms who were worried by the rapidly increasing cost ofhigher 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'sflip-flopping on theConfederate 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 wasGeorgia convenience store clerk dressed inGeorgia Bulldogs garb who spoke with a thickSouthern 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 byGamecock fans when he made appearances atWilliams-Brice Stadium forUSC football games.
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size[a] | Margin of error | David Beasley (R) | Jim Hodges (D) | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mason-Dixon[1] | October 26–28, 1998 | 806 (LV) | ± 3.5% | 44% | 46% | 10% |
| Mason-Dixon[1] | September 28–30, 1998 | 813 (LV) | ± 3.5% | 37% | 46% | 17% |
| Mason-Dixon[1] | August 29 – September 1, 1998 | 806 (LV) | ± 3.5% | 36% | 51% | 13% |
| Mason-Dixon[1] | June 1–3, 1998 | 811 (RV) | ± 3.5% | 34% | 55% | 11% |
The general election was held on November 3, 1998 and Jim Hodges was decisively elected as the nextgovernor of South Carolina. Unsurprisingly, Hodges performed extremely well in the rural counties, but it was the unexpectedly strong vote of theLowcountry in his favor that enabled Hodges to defeat Beasley.Turnout was much less percentage-wise than theprevious election because approximately a half-million new voters were added to the rolls, but many of those chose not to vote in the election.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Jim Hodges | 570,070 | 53.23 | +5.3 | |
| Republican | David Beasley (incumbent) | 484,088 | 45.21 | −5.2 | |
| Libertarian | Timothy Moultrie | 14,894 | 1.4 | +1.4 | |
| No party | Write-Ins | 1,553 | 0.2 | 0.0 | |
| No party | Bobby Eubanks | 264 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
| Majority | 85,982 | 8.0 | +5.5 | ||
| Turnout | 1,070,869 | 53.0 | −9.3 | ||
| Democraticgain fromRepublican | |||||
Official campaign websites (archived)
| Preceded by 1994 | South Carolina gubernatorial elections | Succeeded by 2002 |
