James Stephen Hodges Sr. (February 2, 1949 – October 9, 2024) was an American politician, educator, and former small business owner from the state of

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. Hodges served as a member of the

Missouri House of Representatives The Missouri House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 163 members, representing districts with an average size of 37,000 residents. House members are elected for two-year terms during general elections ...

since being elected in November 2006. A Democrat, he represented the 149th District, which includes all of New Madrid County as well as portions of Mississippi County and Pemiscot County from 2007 to 2015.

Background

Born in

Cape Girardeau, Missouri Cape Girardeau ( , ; colloquially referred to as "Cape") is a city in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri, Cape Girardeau and Scott County, Missouri, Scott Counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the ...

, James Stephen Hodges was raised in

East Prairie, Missouri East Prairie is a city in Mississippi County, Missouri, Mississippi County, Missouri, United States. The population was 2,943 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 3,176 in 2010 United States census, 2010. History A post office ...

and was a graduate of East Prairie High School. Following high school he attended

Southeast Missouri State University Southeast Missouri State University (Southeast or SEMO) is a public university in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. In addition to the main campus, the university has four regional campuses offering full degree programs and a secondary campus housing t ...

, where he received a bachelor's degree in

business administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

, and the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

, where he obtained a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

Career

Prior to entering politics Hodges spent thirty years as manager and owner of an East Prairie

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...

. When not involved with his legislative duties he worked as a

substitute teacher A substitute teacher is a person who teaches a school class when the regular teacher is absent or unavailable; e.g., because of illness, personal leave, maternal leave and so on. "Substitute teacher" (usually abbreviated as sub) is the most c ...

and a

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

for various

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

sports. He served on his local

school board A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional area, ...

for twelve years before seeking election to the

in 2006, winning his election. In 2012, he defeated local

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

singer and ''

America's Got Talent ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is an American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distributed by) and ...

'' winner Neal E. Boyd to be re-elected to the Missouri House. On February 16, 2013, he was chosen by Democratic Party leaders from southeast Missouri to run in a special election for Missouri's 8th congressional district to succeed U.S. Representative

Jo Ann Emerson Jo Ann Emerson (née Hermann; born September 16, 1950) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for from 1996 to 2013. The district consists of Southeast and South Central Missouri and includes the Bootheel, the Lead Belt and ...

, who had resigned. Hodges came in second in the race while Jason Smith won the race. He was a conservative Democrat who opposed abortion and gun control, but said he was a Democrat because he had a "social conscience".Sanders, Matt
Hodges tapped as Dem. nominee
''Daily Statesman'', February 19, 2013. In the early morning hours of February 6, 2014, Representative Hodges was arrested on suspicion of

drunk driving Drunk driving (or drink-driving in British English) is the act of driving under the influence of alcohol. A small increase in the blood alcohol content increases the relative risk of a motor vehicle crash. In the United States, alcohol is in ...

by police in

Jefferson City, Missouri Jefferson City, informally Jeff City, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Missouri. It had a population of 43,228 at the 2020 United States census, ranking as the List of cities in Missouri, 16th most popu ...

. When asked for comment on the incident Hodges told the ''

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

'' he had stopped in a parking lot and fell on some ice when exiting the vehicle. Unable to get to his feet, an ambulance and police were summoned to the scene. The state representative was transported to an area hospital where he was treated and released for unspecified injuries. It was then he was arrested but was not jailed. No charges have as yet been formally filed. Hodges issued a statement admitting that he had been drinking on the evening of February 5 but did not feel he was legally intoxicated. He apologized for the incident and said he was looking into receiving counseling.

Personal life and death

In 1972, Hodges married Amy Johnson, and they had three sons. The couple divorced in 2014 after 41 years of matrimony. Their son Andrew was the

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the class rank, highest-performing student of a graduation, graduating class of an academic institution in the United States. The valedictorian is generally determined by an academic institution's grade poin ...

of his class at the

United States Military Academy at West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as commissioned officers in the United States Army. The academy was founded ...

. Hodges died at a care home in Cape Girardeau on October 9, 2024, at the age of 75.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hodges, Steve 1949 births 2024 deaths American United Methodists American grocers Candidates in the 2013 United States elections Democratic Party members of the Missouri House of Representatives Methodists from Missouri People from Mississippi County, Missouri Schoolteachers from Missouri Southeast Missouri State University alumni University of Missouri alumni 21st-century members of the Missouri General Assembly