Mark Hammond (American politician)

Mark Hammond
41st Secretary of State of South Carolina
Incumbent
Assumed office January 15, 2003
Governor	Mark Sanford Nikki Haley
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	(1963-11-29) November 29, 1963 Lancaster, South Carolina, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Alma mater	Newberry College Clemson University

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.

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. Two years later, he earned an M.A. in education from Clemson University. 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. 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. He was sworn in on January 15, 2003. Governor Mark Sanford appointed Marc Kitchens to succeed Hammond in the Spartanburg County clerk of courts office.

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

He was re-elected in 2006, winning 61% of the vote, the largest margin of victory in a contested statewide election in South Carolina history.

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

In 2014, Hammond ran for reelection against Democrat Ginny Deerin whose campaign received a Republican endorsement from former South Carolina First Lady Jenny Sanford. She was also endorsed by the 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. However, Hammond still won re-election.