Political Career
Ford was elected to serve on the Charleston City Council, where he served from 1974 to 1992, and ran for the State Senate and was elected on November 3, 1992, taking office in 1993. He was reelected in 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008. He serves on the Senate Committees on Banking and Insurance, Corrections and Penology, General, Invitations, Judiciary, and Labor, Commerce and Industry, and is the ranking Democrat on several committees. Ford is a member of the South Carolina Legislative Black Caucus.. Ford resigned on May 31, 20132 during a brewing campaign finance scandal.
Ford has been described as entertaining, controversial, and politically incorrect. He supported Hillary Clinton in the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries and questioned Barack Obama's appeal to white voters. Ford later apologized for his comments, stating that any Democrat could win and that he had supported other African American candidates for president in the past. Ford's comments prompted a primary challenge in 2008 from Charleston lawyer Dwayne Green. In the beginning of his campaign, Green managed to raise double the amount of campaign funds Ford raised, and although Ford's fundraising improved he for the first time attended a candidate forum to receive free publicity, because his campaign had financial difficulty resulting from the contested primary and a fire in his home. Green was defeated in the primary election by a wide margin. Ford praised Obama's election in November 2008, but criticized South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn's family for allegedly attempting to profit off Obama's victory.
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