Charles Floyd Hatcher

Charles Floyd Hatcher was born on July 1, 1939, in Doerun, Colquitt County, Georgia, to Clifford Edward C.E. Hatcher and Agnes Faircloth Hatcher. He grew up in rural Southwest Georgia and, according to his family, forever loved the people and peanut fields of Baker and Mitchell Counties. That agricultural landscape shaped both his identity and his later legislative focus. He had several siblings; he was preceded in death by Clifford Bubba Hatcher, Irma Carr, Grace Adkins, and Glenn Hatcher, and is survived by brother Marcus Hatcher.

After U.S. Air Force service (1958-1962), Hatcher earned a B.S. from Georgia Southern College in Statesboro in 1965 and a J.D. from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1969. He was admitted to the Georgia bar in 1969 and began practicing law in Albany.

Hatcher practiced law in Albany before winning a seat in the Georgia House of Representatives (1973-1980). Elected to the U.S. House in 1980, he represented Georgia's 2nd District for six terms (January 3, 1981 to January 3, 1993). He served on Agriculture and Small Business committees and chaired the Peanut and Tobacco, Energy and Agriculture, and Domestic Marketing subcommittees. He was best known for defending the federal peanut program and for his role in the 1990 Farm Bill. He lost the 1992 Democratic primary runoff to Sanford Bishop amid redistricting and House bank scandal publicity, then was cleared by DOJ of criminal wrongdoing in 1993. He later served as a Clinton-era USDA presidential appointee and appears in a 1995 Federal Register notice as a USDA Performance Review Board member.

In 1995 Hatcher married Krysta Harden, his former congressional chief of staff, who later became U.S. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture (2013-2016). He is survived by Harden; sons Chuck and Jon and their spouses; five grandchildren; and brother Marcus. He was preceded in death by daughter Polly Hatcher. In later years he lived in Alexandria, Virginia, volunteered for Meals on Wheels, played golf, and worshiped at Washington Street United Methodist Church. The family remembered him as loving, generous, humorous, and gifted at making anyone feel like an old friend.

Hatcher was a moderate Southern Democrat who prioritized rural agriculture and small-business credit while often supporting Democratic leadership. He voted with Reagan on the 1981 tax package when he believed peanut-program protection was at stake, and later backed some conservative constitutional amendments while also supporting abortion funding in rape or incest cases. Colleagues after his death emphasized bipartisan agricultural friendship more than ideology. His wife later told a Senate panel that he taught her public service is an honor and privilege that should never be abused, and that bipartisan compromise is a tradition in agriculture.

Hatcher's lasting policy imprint is the defense of Southwest Georgia peanut growers and the peanut title of the 1990 Farm Bill, plus rural SBA lending expansion. Sanford Bishop's long tenure in the same district, and Bishop's public gratitude for Hatcher's early counsel, form part of the personal political legacy. His congressional papers at UGA's Russell Library remain a research resource on Farm Bill, wetlands, Gulf War, and constituent-service history. Floor tributes in September 2026 from both Democratic and Republican Georgia members underlined cross-party respect for his agricultural record.

No major national civilian medals dominate published obituaries. Documented honors of record include six consecutive elections to the U.S. House, subcommittee chairmanships on Agriculture and Small Business panels, a Clinton-era USDA presidential appointment, and posthumous House floor tributes with a moment of silence led by Reps. Sanford Bishop and Austin Scott (September 3, 2026). Specific named awards beyond elective office were not made public in sources reviewed.

Hatcher appears in nine C-SPAN Video Library programs from his House years (including 1990 Farm Bill committee coverage and a 1991 news conference on proposed Moody Air Force Base closing). A Russell Library Oral History YouTube upload presents Charles F. Hatcher in the Two-Party Georgia Oral History Project. A January 11, 1990 Mel Steely oral history is held by the University of West Georgia / Digital Library of Georgia. Contemporary press covered the House bank scandal, 1992 runoff, and his death. Local WALB aired a September 2026 death segment.

The principal controversy of his career was the 1992 House bank scandal. Ethics disclosures and contemporary reporting listed him among the highest-volume overdraft writers (UPI cited 819). The scandal, alongside redistricting that created a Black-majority 2nd District, contributed to his primary runoff loss to Sanford Bishop. In 1993 the Justice Department cleared him of criminal wrongdoing related to the House bank. Roll Call also notes that a claimed link between his 1981 tax-cut vote and OMB's peanut-program stance was questionable even as his office promoted a deal narrative to constituents. No other major personal scandals dominate mainstream obituaries.

Charles Floyd Hatcher died on September 1, 2026, in Alexandria, Virginia, at age 87, surrounded by family. Roll Call states the cause was not specified; the family obituary likewise does not publish a clinical cause. A funeral service will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 10, 2026, at Camilla United Methodist Church, 39 South Harney St., Camilla, Georgia, with interment at Oakview Cemetery. A memorial service will be held later at Washington Street United Methodist Church in Alexandria. Suggested memorials: Baker County Community Initiative; Blood Cancer United in memory of Polly Hatcher; Washington Street United Methodist Church. Parker-Bramlett Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.