Kenneth Hodges (February 11, 1952 – April 22, 2025) was an American politician and

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

minister. He was a member of the

South Carolina House of Representatives The South Carolina House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Carolina General Assembly. It consists of 124 representatives elected to two-year terms at the same time as U.S. congressional elections. Unlike many legislatures, seatin ...

from the 121st District, serving from 2005 until 2017. He was a member of the Democratic Party. Hodges grew up in

Colleton County, South Carolina Colleton County is a county in the Lowcountry region of the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 38,604. Its county seat is Walterboro. The county is named after Sir John Colleton, 1st Baronet, one of the e ...

, and attended

Clark Atlanta University Clark Atlanta University (CAU or Clark Atlanta) is a private, Methodist, historically black research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded on September19, 1865, as Atlanta University, it was the first HBCU in the South ...

as an undergraduate and

Morehouse College Morehouse College is a Private college, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, Men's colleges in the United States, men's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia, ...

, where he earned a

Master of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and ...

. He was the longtime pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church in

Beaufort, South Carolina Beaufort ( , different from that of Beaufort, North Carolina) is a city in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States, and its county seat. Chartered in 1711, it is the second-oldest city in South Carolina, behind Charleston, South Carolina ...

. He also served in the South Carolina House of Representatives for over a decade. In 2015, he ran in a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

to the

South Carolina Senate The South Carolina State Senate is the upper house of the South Carolina General Assembly, the lower house being the South Carolina House of Representatives. It consists of 46 senators elected from single member districts for four-year terms at ...

, to succeed his friend, fellow pastor Clementa C. Pinckney, who was killed in the

Charleston church shooting An Anti-Black racism, anti-black mass shooting and hate crime occurred on June 17, 2015, in Charleston, South Carolina. Nine people were killed, and one was injured, during a Bible study (Christianity), Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist ...

; however, he did not win the Democratic primary. Hodges also owned an art gallery in Beaufort. Hodges died at Beaufort Memorial Hospital on April 22, 2025, at the age of 73. Governor

Henry McMaster Henry Dargan McMaster (born May 27, 1947) is an American politician and attorney serving since 2017 as the 117th governor of South Carolina. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he was the 50th List of Attorneys Ge ...

ordered that flags in the state be flown half-staff on Sunday, May 3, 2025 to honor his service. Among funeral attendees: Beaufort Mayor Phil Cromer, former state legislator and former Beaufort Mayor Billy Keyserling, Pastor and

National Action Network The National Action Network (NAN) is an American not-for-profit, civil-rights organization founded by the Reverend Al Sharpton in New York City, New York, in early 1991. In a 2016 profile, '' Vanity Fair'' called Sharpton "arguably the countr ...

leader Rev. Nelson B. Rivers III, County Councilman York Glover and state Representative Michael F. Rivers Sr., of St. Helena Island.

References

External links

Executive Order to lower flags for Reverend Kenneth F. Hodges

Celebrating the Life of The Reverend Kenneth F. Hodges
at Marshel’s Wright Donaldson Home For Funerals, May 3, 2025. 1952 births 2025 deaths 20th-century Baptist ministers from the United States 21st-century Baptist ministers from the United States 21st-century members of the South Carolina General Assembly African-American Baptist ministers African-American state legislators in South Carolina Baptists from South Carolina Candidates in the 2015 United States elections Clark Atlanta University alumni Democratic Party members of the South Carolina House of Representatives Morehouse College alumni People from Beaufort, South Carolina People from Colleton County, South Carolina {{SouthCarolina-politician-stub