Grant Hodges
| Grant Logan Hodges | |
 | |
Arkansas State Representative for District 96 (Benton County)
| |
| In office January 2015 – July 10, 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Duncan Baird |
|---|---|
| Succeeded by | Joshua P. Bryant |
| Born | May 7, 1990 Place of birth missing |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Meredith Hodges |
| Residence | Rogers, Benton County, Arkansas |
| Alma mater | University of Arkansas at Fayetteville |
| Occupation | Political consultant; lobbyist |
| Religion | Christian |
Grant Logan Hodges (born May 7, 1990),[1] is a lobbyist and political consultant from Rogers, Arkansas, who is the director of marketing for Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville, a post he assumed in July 2020.[2] He is a three-term Republican former state representative for House District 96 in a portion of Benton County in the northwestern corner of his state.[3]
Background
Hodges is a former resident of Ozark in Christian County in southwestern Missouri, where he graduated from high schoo]. In 2012, he was named a finalist for a Harry Truman Scholarship while a student in the Honors College of the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. He was the chairman of the Senate for the UA Associated Student Government. He was also the youngest member of the Fayetteville Parks and Recreation Committee, which earmarks spending from the municipal beautification fee.[4]
In 2013, Hodges received his bachelor's degree in Political Science from the University of Arkansas. He was an intern that summer for the conservative Heritage Foundation with special study in the field of health care. He is a member of the National Rifle Association. He is a Southern Baptist.[5] In college he worked in the 2010 campaign to elect Republicans John Boozman to the United States Senate and Mark Dar as lieutenant governor.[4]
Political activities
In 2014, Hodges entered the Republican primary to choose a successor to the term-limited Duncan Baird of Lowell, who subsequently joined the administration of Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson as the budget director. In a low-turnout contest, Hodges won the nomination, 1,395 votes (69 percent) to 635 (31 percent) for Damon Dale Wallace (born c. 1969) of Gateway, Arkansas. The youthful Hodges carried the backing of state Senators Bart Hester and Cecile Bledsoe and the elderly former U. S. Representative John Paul Hammerschmidt of Arkansas's 3rd congressional district, who subsequently died on April 1, 2015. Hodges was only two years of age when Hammerschmidt retired from Congress.[6][7]Hammerschmidt is one of only two opponents to have defeated Bill Clinton in an election.
In the November 4 general election, Hodges with 4,330 votes (59 percent), prevailed over the Democrat Tom McClure, who polled 2,605 votes, and the Libertarian Party candidate, Michael J. Kalagias (born c. 1968) of Garfield in Benton County, who held the remaining 375 ballots.[8] Hodges was assigned to the House committees on: (1) Education and (2) Insurance and Commerce.[3]
In February 2015, Hodges supported House Bill 1228, sponsored by Bob Ballinger of Carroll County, which sought to prohibit government from imposing a burden on the free exercise of religion.[9] The measure passed the House, seventy-two to twenty.[10] One of the opponents, Democratic Representative Camille Bennett, a former city attorney for Lonoke, Arkansas, called for a reworking of the legislation.[11] Bennett claimed the Ballinger bill would establish a "type of religious litmus test" which could impact nearly any law under consideration by the legislature.[12] The measure was subsequently passed by a large margin in the House and signed into law in revised form, SB 975, by Governor Hutchinson.[13]
Hodges also supported legislation which allows public school teachers to withdraw memberships from labor unions at any time of their choosing, rather than making an irrevocable annual decision each August.[6]
References
- ↑ Grant Hodges. mylife.com. Retrieved on February 27, 2021.
- ↑ Max Brantley (July 10, 2020). Grant Hodges resigns House seat to take lobbying job. arktimes.com. Retrieved on February 27, 2021.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Representative Grant Hodges. Retrieved on February 27, 2021.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Three University of Arkansas Students Named as 2012 Truman Scholarship Finalists. uark.edu (February 29, 2012). Retrieved on February 27, 2021.
- ↑ Grant Hodges. Project Vote Smart. Retrieved on February 27, 2021.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Grant Hodges. Facebook. Retrieved on February 27, 2021.
- ↑ Kristen Coppola (February 19, 2014). Aspiring Politician Uses Youth as an Asset. University of Arkansas Traveler. Retrieved on February 27, 2021.
- ↑ District 96. ballotpedia.org. Retrieved on February 27, 2021.
- ↑ HB 1228. Project Vote Smart. Retrieved on February 27, 2021.
- ↑ HB 1228. Project Vote Smart. Retrieved on February 27, 2021.
- ↑ Indiana, Arkansas try to stem religious objections uproar," Atlantic Broadband, April 3, 2015.
- ↑ "Opponents of Religious Freedom Bill Point Out Law Differences, Possible Unintended Consequences," Fox Channel 16 (Little Rock), April 1, 2015.
- ↑ "Gov. Hutchinson signs revised religious freedom bill; HB 1228 recalled," KTHV-TV (Little Rock), April 2, 2015.
