Jim Rex

Jim Rex (born November 21, 1941, in Toledo, Ohio) was the 16th South 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, now known as the Alliance Party of South Carolina.

As of 2021, he is the last Democrat to have been popularly elected to a statewide office in South Carolina. While Yancey McGill briefly held the office of Lieutenant Governor for 7 months in 2014, he was elected by the state senators, and while Brian Gaines has been State Comptroller since 2023, that was the result of a gubernatorial appointment. Provided by Wikipedia