By FITSNews || If you’re wondering why South Carolina’s government-run school system continues bringing up the rear in virtually every national ranking that matters, look no further than the gubernatorial campaign of its leader, State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex.
The man who is in charge of getting dollars to our classrooms is putting on a clinic in financial mismanagement in his quest for the 2010 Democratic nomination, blowing money at a rate nearly twice as fast as any other candidate. Seriously, people … there are illiterate crackheads and bumpkin meth heads we’d sooner trust with our money, which is a rather fitting analogy considering the disproportionately high percentage of both that Rex’s K-12 system produces.
Anyway, Rex’s campaign for governor – which seeks to take the unmitigated failure he’s brought to our public schools and expand it to the rest of state government – didn’t right its fiscal ship during the first quarter of 2010.
According to documents filed (belatedly, again) with the S.C. State Ethics Commission, Rex raised $187,000 during the first three months of 2010 – but spent $100,000. That leaves him with only $112,000 on hand – which is roughly one-fifth of the amount of available resources enjoyed by his nearest credible competitor, Republican Nikki Haley.
It’s also well south of the $800,000 that Democratic front-runner Vincent Sheheen currently has in his campaign account.
Rex’s totals would have been much worse were it not for $42,100 in personal loans pumped into his campaign over the last three months. In fact, desperate to shore up his numbers, Rex pumped in a $38,500 loan on March 31, 2010 – the day before the filing period closed.
Rex began his campaign with surprisingly poor numbers – but he’s still a statewide officeholder, and when he got off on the wrong fiscal foot most expected that he would eventually turn things around.
That didn’t happen.
In fact, Rex raised $117,300 during the final quarter of 2009, but he also spent $133,050 – leaving him with a paltry $28,647 on hand.
Since announcing his candidacy, Rex has raised $386,000 (the least of all major candidates) – but spent $273,000. That’s an unheard of 70.7 percent “burn rate,” which is roughly twice the “burn rate” of U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett – the GOP’s most extravagant spender – and seven times the “burn rate” of Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, who has been squirreling money away for TV ads during the final month-and-a-half of the race.
Also, Rex’s latest filing once again shows thousands of dollars spent on consultants, which as we’ve pointed out previously makes his campaign not at all dissimilar to his equally ineffective government bureaucracy.
With more people looking at candidates’ campaigns as a sign of how they’ll manage tax dollars, Rex is clearly coming up short … in more ways than one.
In the process, he’s basically spent himself out of contention for the Democratic nomination …
By JAF April 16, 2010 at 8:43 am
That is what I like about politics,we reward ineptness. Right Governor Rex?
By Bobby April 16, 2010 at 10:01 am
That’s the least intelligent analysis I’ve ever heard. “He’s basically spent himself out of contention for the Democratic nomination…”
Maybe the 70% burn rate means he actually has a field operation in place, which would be very much the opposite of other candidates. I don’t think the voters of South Carolina care about Senator Sheheen’s $800,000; it isn’t always entirely about money.
By Fred April 16, 2010 at 10:34 am
Sheheen has this one wrapped up. Let’s all work to rid this State of Jim Rex. Vote for Vincent Sheheen!
Fred
By Varga April 16, 2010 at 10:45 am
Will, you are again playing with the math. If you take in much, but have to spend, of course your “burn rate” is going to be a higher percentage than someone that takes in a stash and spends the same amount.
Interestly, you could have taken a whole different spin on how little Rex has raised. Maybe he has not been “bought” like the other candidates.
By Funky Chicken April 16, 2010 at 1:36 pm
This was a stupid article. Is Will running out of material?
By Confused April 16, 2010 at 2:11 pm
I will admit that the parallel between Rex’s campaign and the public schools might be a stretch, but don’t understand the rest of these comments.
Jim Rex has:
1) Filed late (again). He is the ONLY candidate to do so consistently.
2) Raised an anemic amount of money. Of all of the candidates, he raised the least, BY FAR… again.
3)Spent MUCH more, by comparison to what he has raised, than all of the other candidates.
Anyone who has worked on a campaign knows that one of those does not doom a campaign, but all three combined is a sign of troubled waters.
Rex and Zeke have been quoted saying that Vincent needs to spend one million up front to match his name ID and statewide office status. The Rasmussen poll ain’t showin’ that.
Am I wrong???
By Caution April 16, 2010 at 3:21 pm
Believe me, I’m not a fan of Jim Rex. However, how can you “knock” a guy who has already won a state-wide election? Perhaps his “pay as you go” technique will work for him.
By Mike April 17, 2010 at 2:23 am
Confused, you sir are correct. The giant sucking sound is the Rex campaign and the fate of out education system going with it.
Zeke and Jim can spin the situation all they want in hopes of catching some spark, but even the Dems know he is an abject failure and they never even tried…
May God have mercy on the soul of a politician who runs for office to educate children and then fails while he plans his run for Governor…
By BIN News April 17, 2010 at 7:19 pm
sic(k) willie is such a voucher pimp. He knows the real problems facing public education, but he refuses to address them.
It’s the poverty, stupid.
And the brazillions of social ills that go along.
And it’s the wacko standard set by the SC Legislature:
“minimally adequate”
According to at standard, SC is doing great.
sic(k) willie needs to tell Howie the Voucher Clown that vouchers are dead in S.C. Particularly in this economy.
By Earl Capps April 18, 2010 at 5:05 am
Mike, God might have mercy, but I suspect the Sheheen campaign won’t.
By The Colonel April 18, 2010 at 1:58 pm
Rex will be a mere oneline entry in SC’s history – thankfully.
He is an inept (at best) administrator and the worst of a big field of bad choices for Governor (number seven of the seven dwarves). Even the Boy Blunder Bauer would be a better choice.
By Fred April 18, 2010 at 11:01 pm
I heard Jim and Zeke speak at an event and Jim Rex was the ONLY person in the room (and potentially the State) that believed the load of crap line that Rex has been a wonderful Superintendent. Kept saying that SC has the MOST IMPROVED public schools in America.
As a Sheheen fan, I hope you spend your 100K pushing THAT message!