John David Hawkins is a trial lawyer from Spartanburg, South Carolina.
[6] In 2000 he was elected a Republican member of the South Carolina Senate, representing the 12th district.
In 2004 he narrowly won reelection defeating his primary challenger, Lee Bright by 31 votes.
[7] While serving in the senate, Hawkins was a leading proponent of South Carolina Amendment 1, prohibiting same-sex marriage, which was passed in a statewide referendum in 2006.
On September 18, 2013, Hawkins renounced this anti-gay legislation and announced, "I was wrong about pursing [sic] the marriage amendment.