Rep. Bob Inglis (R)

The congressman from the 4th District once again is Bob Inglis, who was elected in 2004 after having served from 1993 to 1999. He grew up in the Lowcountry, excelled at Duke University and the University of Virginia law school and moved to Greenville to practice commercial law. He ran for the U.S. House against a Democratic incumbent in 1992 and pledged to serve only three terms, to take no money from political action committees and to oppose pork barrel projects. He won 50%-48%. Inglis kept his promises.When Republicans won the House in 1994, he supported reforms, including one to apply all U.S. laws to Congress, which had exempted itself from many laws and regulations, and a ban on gifts and other perks to members. Inglis resisted joining the Washington culture and slept in his office on an air mattress. In 1998, he ran against Democratic Sen. Ernest Hollings and lost 53%-46%. He returned to Greenville to practice law, specializing in commercial real estate and corporations.

In 2004, Inglis traded places with Rep. Jim DeMint, his House successor, who honored his own term-limits pledge and was elected to the Senate as Hollings retired. Inglis again ran as a citizen-politician, saying he was “reinvigorated” by his time in private life. But this time, he refused to make another term limits pledge, which he likened to “unilateral disarmament.” He suggested that the Capitol Hill culture had changed, so that the same strategies that made sense after Republicans captured the House majority, no longer were required. Ever the budget hawk, Inglis enlisted his wife as his top campaign aide, eschewed political consultants, ran his race out of his home and refused political action committee contributions. By getting an early start and raising large amounts of money, he scared off serious competition. He won 84% of the vote in the Republican primary and easily won the general election 70%-29% over funeral home executive Brandon Brown.

His voting record moved toward the center from the more conservative stances that he took in his first stint in the House. He opposed oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and renewal of rules for warrantless electronic surveillance. He joined a congressional delegation to Antarctica, where scientific research convinced him of the risk of global warming. He is the ranking Republican on the Energy and Environment Subcommittee on the Science and Technology Committee, and has been outspoken about the need to reduce carbon emissions that cause global warming. He worked on legislation to promote alternative fuels, including the enactment in December 2007 of annual cash prices for hydrogen-based inventions. During his initial tenure, he told The Greenville News, “I just sort of reeked of sanctimony.” No more, he pledged.

Inglis had an easy re-election in 2006. But his February 2007 support of the Democratic resolution opposing the military surge in Iraq, which he called “a vote of conscience,” caused anger among many Republicans at home, including the chairman of the state party and a few county party leaders. When they encouraged potential primary challengers, Inglis responded by proposing “benchmarks” for success in Iraq. Charles Jeter, an Environmental Protection Agency regional official in the Reagan Administration, challenged Inglis and said that his environmental views made him the “Al Gore of the Republican Party.” But Inglis won the primary over Jeter 67%-33%, and went on to win the general election 60%-37%. He faces another likely primary challenge in 2010.