Mark Hammond (American politician)

Mark Hammond
41st Secretary of State of South Carolina
Incumbent
Assumed office January 15, 2003
Governor	Mark Sanford Nikki Haley Henry McMaster (Designate)
Preceded by	Jim Miles
Clerk of Courts of Spartanburg County
In office 1997–2003
Preceded by	Ken Huckaby
Succeeded by	Marc Kitchens
Personal details
Born	November 29, 1963 Lancaster, South Carolina, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Alma mater	Newberry College (BA) Clemson University (MA)

Mark Hammond (born November 29, 1963), is an American Republican politician from South Carolina. He has served as South Carolina Secretary of State since January 15, 2003.^[1]

Early life and career

Mark Hammond was born in Lancaster, South Carolina, and grew up in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Following graduation from Dorman High School in Spartanburg, he attended Newberry College, graduating with a B.A. in political science in 1986.^[1] Two years later, he earned an M.A. in education from Clemson University.^[1] He began his professional career as a juvenile probation officer for the South Carolina Department of Youth Services. From 1990 to 1996, he served as a criminal investigator for the Spartanburg County, South Carolina-based 7th Judicial Circuit Solicitor's Office. In 1996, he was elected as Clerk of Courts for Spartanburg County, and was the first Republican to serve in that post since Reconstruction. Hammond succeeded Democrat Ken Huckaby, who had served four terms since 1977.^[2] He was elected to a second term in 2000.

Secretary of State

In 2002, he was elected as South Carolina's 41st Secretary of State, after defeating two other candidates in the Republican primary, and winning over 600,000 votes in the general election.^[1] He was sworn in on January 15, 2003.^[3] Governor Mark Sanford appointed Marc Kitchens to succeed Hammond in the Spartanburg County clerk of courts office.^[4]

In addition to his duties as Secretary of State, he also serves as Co-Chairman of International Relations Committee on Business Services.^[5]

He was re-elected in 2006, winning 61% of the vote, which at the time was the largest margin of victory in a contested statewide election in South Carolina history.^[1]

In 2010, Hammond defeated his opponent, Democrat Majorie Johnson with 60.9% of the vote.^[6]

In 2014, Hammond ran for reelection against Democrat Ginny Deerin whose campaign received a Republican endorsement from former South Carolina First Lady Jenny Sanford.^[7] She was also endorsed by the South Carolina Club for Growth, a conservative political organization that usually supports Republicans. She was the first ever Democrat running for statewide office to have been endorsed by them.^[8] Both Jenny Sanford and former South Carolina Club for Growth President Chad Walldorf served on the Board of Directors of WINGS for Kids, the nonprofit organization founded by Deerin.^[9] Deerin had made deregulating nonprofits a central theme of her campaign,^[10] which contrasted with Hammond's tough record of charities enforcement.^[11][12] Hammond won reelection with 59.5% of the vote.^[13]

Electoral history

South Carolina Secretary of State Republican Primary Election, 2002
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
Republican	Mark Hammond	110,761	38.87
Republican	Ed McMullen	96,451	33.84
Republican	Lois Eargle	77,769	27.29

South Carolina Secretary of State Republican Primary Runoff Election, 2002
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
Republican	Mark Hammond	151,942	54.75
Republican	Ed McMullen	125,567	45.25

South Carolina Secretary of State Election, 2002
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
Republican	Mark Hammond	610,799	56.84
Democratic	Rick Wade	463,501	43.13
Write-ins	Write-ins	291	0.03

South Carolina Secretary of State Republican Primary Election, 2006
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
Republican	Mark Hammond (inc.)	125,016	58.76
Republican	Bill McKown	87,744	41.24

South Carolina Secretary of State Election, 2006
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
Republican	Mark Hammond (inc.)	656,661	61.24
Democratic	Cheryl Footman	415,211	38.72
Write-ins	Write-ins	473	0.04

South Carolina Secretary of State Election, 2010
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
Republican	Mark Hammond (inc.)	805,783	60.91
Democratic	Marjorie Johnson	516,414	39.04
Write-ins	Write-ins	638	0.05

South Carolina Secretary of State Election, 2014
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
Republican	Mark Hammond (inc.)	730,739	59.51
Democratic	Ginny Deerin	496,344	40.42
Write-ins	Write-ins	788	0.06

References

1. "Secretary of State's Biography". South Carolina. Retrieved 2010-10-10.
2. McDonough, Molly (January 12, 1996). "Veteran Spartanburg clerk of court to face first challenger". Spartanburg Herald-Journal. p. C2.
3. "Lt. Gov., state officers also sworn in Wednesday". WIS. January 16, 2003. Retrieved July 8, 2012.
4. "Kitchens resigns, issues apology following arrest". Spartanburg Herald-Journal. February 3, 2010. Retrieved July 8, 2012.
5. Reid, Charles F. (2011). South Carolina Legislative Manual (PDF). p. 338. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 11, 2012.
6. "South Carolina Election Results". The New York Times.
7. Jenny Sanford has got a lot to say about 'Mark' -- Mark Hammond that is (CNN Politics article)
8. "Deerin first Democrat endorsed by conservative group for state race". Bluffton Today. September 21, 2014. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
9. http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments//2014/571/055/2014-571055054-0ae88a89-9.pdf
10. http://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/election/article13904111.html
11. http://legacy.wltx.com/story/news/local/midlands/2014/10/22/robo-calling-fundraiser-fined-1m-by-sc-secretary-of-state/17709311/
12. http://www.goupstate.com/article/20130903/ARTICLES/309031018?p=2&tc=pg
13. http://www.enr-scvotes.org/SC/53424/149816/en/summary.html