Does mySQL not respect host files?

I am running a virtual web server with apache and mysql. This is a localized copy of my company's public website. In order to save time, I would like mysql to respect my host file. This will mean when I pull down the web content I don't have to make any configuration changes. Right now this will only work if I make the SQL connection 'localhost' in the config file.

What I have tried: Disabling iptables Set permissions to wildcard database name

Its strange because if I ping the host entry it returns local host. So the host file seems to be working but mysql doesn't seem to connect.