Voters oust SC mayor who pushed I-95 speed cameras

RIDGELAND, S.C. (AP) — The South Carolina mayor who pushed to install speed cameras on I-95 to reduce traffic accidents has lost his bid for re-election.

The Beaufort Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/vCBt8z ) that Ridgeland Mayor Gary Hodges lost this week’s mayoral election. Hodges, mayor for four years, lost to former mayor Joey Malphrus by a vote of 280 to 145 in unofficial returns.

The town had installed cameras to catch speeders on I-95 before the cameras were outlawed by the state legislature earlier this year.

When the cameras were operational they were the only speed cameras outside construction zones on I-95 from Maine to Miami.

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Information from: The Beaufort Gazette, http://www.beaufortgazette.com