Govan served as a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from the 95th District from 1992 to 2022.
In 2022, after redistricting impacted his district, Govan announced his candidacy for state secretary of education rather than run for re-election.
He faced Lisa Ellis and Gary Burgess in the Democratic primary.
[4] In March 2024, Govan filed to run in the Democratic Primary for State House of Representatives, District 93,[5] the seat held by incumbent Russell Ott, who was running for State Senate Seat 26.
[7] Govan and Felder bested two other Democratic candidates, Phillip Ford and Chris Roland, to face each other in a Primary runoff.