Jim Rex was the 16thSouth Carolina Superintendent of Education. He ran for the position in 2006 as a Democrat, against Karen Floyd, a Republican. Rex defeated Floyd by only 455 votes, the closest margin of victory in a statewide election in South Carolina's history. He was sworn in as superintendent on January 10, 2007, replacing fellow Democrat Inez Tenenbaum. In 2014, Rex co-founded a new political party – the American Party of South Carolina. He is chair of the party, which nominated four candidates for election in November 2014. The three statewide candidates and a candidate for the SC House collectively received more than 153,000 votes in the party's inaugural election. The American Party is a centrist party that requires term limits of its candidates, transparency, and ethical behavior. It emphasizes the need for the US to acquire and maintain national global competitiveness as a means to strengthening the middle class, maintain a strong military, provide world class education and health care, and eliminate the national debt and deficit. It avoids "hot button" social issues and nominates candidates who focus on problem solving, finding common ground, and reforms related to issues such as comprehensive tax reform, improved infrastructure, and transformational education and training.
Rex championed reforms in accountability and pushed for advances in public school choice and innovation. In addition to replacing the unpopular Palmetto Achievement Test with the Palmetto Assessment of State Standards, he also worked with the General Assembly to reform the state's system of annual school report cards, eliminate burdensome paperwork for teachers, change South Carolina's student performance targets to bring them into alignment with other states, and create a mandate to review the state's accountability system every five years. Shortly after taking office, Rex created the Office of Public School Choice and Innovation within the South Carolina Department of Education, combining innovative approaches to education with technological advancement, both inside and outside the classroom, to help students learn. New and improved options include single-gender education, Montessori programs, charter schools and virtual learning. His bill for a comprehensive public school choice plan was passed by the General Assembly, but failed to become law after Governor Mark Sanford - under pressure from supporters of vouchers and tax credits - vetoed the legislation. Despite this setback, South Carolina has become a national leader in public school choice options during Rex's tenure. When Governor Mark Sanford attempted to reject roughly $511 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds allotted for education in 2009, Rex led the fight to force the Governor to accept the money, working with leaders in Washington, DC and Columbia to find a way around his objection. In the end, the General Assembly supported Rex's position on the issue and included the money in the budget, forcing a lawsuit. The issue was eventually resolved when the South Carolina Supreme Court ordered the governor to accept the funds.
2010 gubernatorial candidacy
On August 6, 2009, Rex announced he was exploring the possibility of either seeking reelection as State Superintendent of Education or running for Governor of South Carolina in 2010. On September 15, he announced his candidacy for governor. On the campaign trail, Rex advocated for Revenue and Funding Reform in order to relieve some of the extreme cuts caused by the budget crisis that began in 2008. One of his ideas – the Tax Realignment Commission – was already in progress before the campaign began, but he expressed concern that the General Assembly might try to water down the reform in an effort to appeal to special interest groups. Another key component of Rex's platform was his plan to raise the cigarette tax. South Carolina's tax, which was $0.07 per pack at the time Rex began to advocate an increase, was far from the national average of $1.34 per pack. Ultimately, the General Assembly compromised on the issue and raised the tax to $0.37 per pack, still $0.97 below the national average. Rex repeatedly stated that an increase to $1.34, indexed to increase with the national average in the future, would have prevented teacher furloughs and decreased teen smoking. Rex finished second in the Democratic primary to State SenatorVincent Sheheen, whom he endorsed for governor in September.
