In 2004, Vick ran for the South Carolina House of Representatives in the Chesterfield County based-53rd House District. James Sweeney and Vick both qualified for the run-off election as no candidate got 50% of the vote in the Democratic primary. Sweeney got 36% and Vick got 35%. Vick defeated Sweeney in the run-off 54%-46%. He won the general election unopposed. He won re-election in 2006, 2008, and 2010 without any opposition.
Tenure
In 2005, he was named Legislator of the Year by CIADA. Between 2006 and 2008, he was the Democratic House Whip. He is the Chairman of South Carolina Legislative Sportsmen's Caucus. He has called himself a "pro-life Baptist" who also supports gun rights. After U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot in January 2011, he sponsored an unsuccessful bill that would have allowed state lawmakers with concealed weapons permits to carry a handgun inside of the Statehouse. After 8 years as a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council, Vick resigned from the organization.
Committee assignments
Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs
Vick was arrested May 14, 2012 after a state Bureau of Protective Services officer saw him stumbling in the State House parking garage before getting into his truck and running into a traffic cone. That case was delayed in October after a judge ruled attorneys from the state Department of Public Safety had no authority to prosecute the case. Public Safety plans to appeal the ruling. About 11 pm on the night of May 14, 2012, Vick was arrested in Columbia, SC by the Bureau of Protective Services on the Statehouse grounds and was charged with driving under the influence, speeding, and carrying a handgun without a permit. An officer saw Vick stumbling as he walked into a parking garage located in the Statehouse grounds in Columbia. Vick got into his car and hit a cone before the officer could catch up and ask him to stop. Vick smelled of alcohol but refused to take a breathalyzer test. Columbia Police Department officials indicated that Vick had been at a local bar prior to his arrest. A 21-year-old female USC student was in the car with Vick. On May 16, Vick's attorney J. Todd Rutherford, who is also a state representative said that Vick had a pebble in his shoe and that is why he was walking funny. Vicks attorney went on to say that there are too many inconsistencies in the officer statement in regards to how the parking garage was laid out and to what the officer said what happened and also that the cone Vick is accused of hitting "Has a lot of black marks on it because people hit it all the time." Rutherford says that he can produce several people who can testify that Vick was perfectly sober when he left the restaurant. The charges were eventually dropped.
Aftermath
Vick dropped out of the race after his arrest. However his name still appeared on the June Democratic ballot. Gloria Bromell Tinubu ended up winning the nomination, but lost the November general election to RepublicanTom Rice.
