Treasurer of South Carolina
In March 2010,Loftis announced his candidacy for Treasurer of South Carolina in the Republican primary. [4] Loftis characterized himself as a conservative reform candidate. [5]
Loftis was endorsed by former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, [6] former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee,former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, [7] and former US Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. Loftis received many state Tea Party movement endorsements including many in the business community and several newspaper endorsements.
On June 8,2010,Loftis defeated the incumbent State Treasurer,Converse Chellis in the Republican Primary with 62% of the vote, [8] carrying all of the state's 46 counties. [9]
Treasurer Loftis became the first Republican to defeat a sitting incumbent in a statewide GOP primary. [10]
In 2024,Loftis became embroiled in a battle over who was responsible for $1.8 billion that was left sitting in state accounts for several years,unbeknownst to legislators,some of whom wanted to remove him from office. The money never had been properly distributed to state agencies because,Loftis said,it did not have the required codes when it was put into a special account during a software transition. Legislators were alerted to the $1.8 billion by the state's new comptroller general. [11]
State law requires the treasurer to publish quarterly reports showing which banks hold state funds. [12] But when Loftis,under intense questioning from legislators,threatened to publish a report online that contained state bank account numbers,the attorney general prepared to go to the state Supreme Court to block that. Loftis backed down after calls from the chief of the State Law Enforcement Division and Gov. Henry McMaster. [13] [14]
Loftis has said he would not seek reelection in 2026. [15]
On January 16,2025,State Representative Heather Bauer filed legislation that begins impeachment proceedings against Treasurer Loftis. Senator Larry Grooms has also called for impeachment due to the enormous accounting error inflicted on the state. [16]
