bid for the seat to serve only three terms. Accordingly, he vacated the seat in 1998 to run for the Senate against Democratic incumbent Ernest Hollings, who had been in office since 1966, as successor to Olin Johnston. Inglis gave Hollings his second close race in a row, holding the longtime Senator to 53 percent of the vote. After losing the race, Inglis returned to work as a lawyer, practicing commercial real estate and corporate law. He was succeeded in the House by Jim DeMint, who had been an informal adviser to Inglis. 2004 In 2004, DeMint opted to run for Hollings's open Senate seat instead of seeking re-election to the House. Inglis chose to take his old House seat back. He easily won a three-way Republican primary with 85 percent of the vote, all but assuring his return to Congress. He faced the founder of the HBCU Classic and first African American Democratic Candidate to run for South Carolina's 4th Congressional District seat Brandon P. Brown from Taylors, South Carolina in the general election. He was re-elected with little difficulty in 2006 and 2008. 2010 Inglis faced four challengers in the Republican primary—the real contest in this heavily Republican district. It was the first time he faced substantive primary opposition as an incumbent. The challengers included 7th Circuit (Spartanburg) Solicitor Trey Gowdy, state Senator David L. Thomas, college professor and former Historian of the U.S. House Christina Jeffrey, and businessman Jim Lee. In the June 8, 2010, primary election, Inglis finished second with 27 percent of the vote, well behind first-place finisher Gowdy's 39 percent. He was forced into a June 22 run-off election against Gowdy. Although he had "racked up a reliably conservative record" during his six terms in the house, Inglis had been criticized by his primary opponents for certain Congressional votes, including his support for the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (which earned him the nickname "Bailout Bob") and his opposition to the Iraq War troop surge of 2007, and was portrayed as removed from the interests of the district. Inglis had attacked Gowdy's conservatism and questioned his opponent's support for creating a costly lake in Union County, South Carolina. In the runoff, Gowdy defeated Inglis in a landslide, 71–29 percent. Following his defeat in the Republican primary, Inglis criticized the Tea Party movement, which had supported his opponent's campaign, as well as the Republican