Rex spending nearly as much as he is raising

Superintendent of Education Jim Rex does not look like a guy that is actively campaigning for office. According to his second quarter disclosure report, he raised $36,508 during that period, and spent $30,992.79. While we’re not the best with math (we blame our parents for that one), he spent 84.8 percent of his dollars, leaving only $9,220.14 on hand.

If he was going to run for governor, we expect that he would have already made his announcement, considering that the two other candidates, Sen. Vince Sheheen and Charleston attorney Mullins McLeod, are in the process of splitting the state Democratic electorate between them. So, it would relatively safe to assume he’s just running for reelection. With no viable announced Republican opponents, it seems like he thinks it’s A-OK to be spending this much of his war chest 17 months away from the general election.

According to a Democratic source close to the situation, “The idea that Rex is running for governor is now an absolute joke after this quarter. This report is a cry for help. There is no excuse to be spending 90 percent of the money you take in right now in the campaign season. Sheheen and McLeod are banking 90 percent of the money they take in. There needs to be an intervention for Rex.”

It does a substantial bit of pissing us off that he’s spent the money, considering that one of our favorite singers, Danielle Howle, played at a fundraiser for him. Come on, man. Ms. Howle plays a show for you and you run through that cash like a college student with an overage check?

Also, you would think that Zeke Stokes, who engineered Inez Tenenbaum‘s wins, would have more of a say in the situation. It’s hard for us to believe that Stokes would be OK with the way this went down.

So, open up the flood gates. If you’re a Republican, and you want to win a statewide office, you now have all the incentive you need.