Campaign News
State Superintendent of Education files to be South Carolina’s next Governor
(COLUMBIA) A declared candidate since September 2009, State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex today made it official by filing the necessary paperwork with the South Carolina Democratic Party to place his name on the ballot in the June 8, 2010 Democratic Primary. Citing the need to change the broken system in Columbia in which the career politicians answer to the special interests instead of the people, Rex vowed to be the leader South Carolina needs to turn the state around. Rex listed the economy and education as his main concerns.
“South Carolina is at a crossroads, and I am running for Governor because South Carolina needs a leader to turn our state around. For years, the career politicians, who have been calling the shots in Columbia, have put the special interests and lobbyists ahead of the people. I am not a career politician. I’ve been a high school English teacher, a football coach, a university dean, and a college president. I have managed more people, programs, and dollars than all the other candidates – Republican and Democrat – combined. And it’s that kind of executive experience that we need in South Carolina to move us out of the mess that the career politicians in Columbia have created for us,” said Rex.
Rex’s success in bringing badly-needed change to South Carolina’s education system has been underscored by the recent announcement that South Carolina has made it into the finalist round in the Obama Administration’s Race for the Top competition for a massive infusion of federal resources that would be dedicated to education reform. In addition, he has undertaken a long-overdue effort to work with the Obama Administration to begin rebuilding schools along the Corridor of Shame, starting with the J.V. Martin School in Dillon.
“I have worked as an education reformer most of my career, and I understand the powerful connection between education and good jobs. I intend to be an education governor in the mold of former Governor Riley, who helped our state take great strides both economically and educationally,” said Rex.
Rex’s campaign was buoyed recently by the high-profile endorsements of more than half of the state’s 85 school district superintendents, as well as endorsements from the nation’s first female three-star general Claudia Kennedy and renowned best-selling author Pat Conroy.
Rex will compete for the Democratic nomination for Governor in the primary on June 8, 2010.
Tags: Campaign, filing deadline