Curtis M. Loftis Jr. (born September 8, 1958) is an American politician, businessman and philanthropist. He currently serves as the Treasurer of South Carolina. A member of the Republican Party, Loftis has held elective office since 2010.
Curtis Loftis | |
|---|---|
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| Treasurer of South Carolina | |
| Assumed office January 12, 2011 | |
| Governor | Nikki Haley Henry McMaster |
| Preceded by | Converse Chellis |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 8, 1958 West Columbia, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Education | University of South Carolina, Columbia (BA) |
| Website | Government website |
Early life and education
editLoftis was born in Columbia, South Carolina. He attended Brookland-Cayce High School and graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1981. Loftis was twice elected president of the Student Senate and served as president of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.
Career
editBusiness and philanthropy
edit
Loftis is the owner of several central South Carolina businesses and is involved in real estate.
In 1999, Loftis established Saluda Charitable Foundation[1] and remains the principal benefactor.[2] The foundation's activities are faith-based and provide nutritional and housing services to orphans and the elderly.[3] SCF provided over 500,000 meals to the needy and supported medical missions in Haiti.
Treasurer of South Carolina
editIn 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]
2014 election
editTreasurer Loftis won the Primary with a 62% of the vote and was unopposed in the general election to remain the State Treasurer.
2018 election
editTreasurer Curtis Loftis defeated Rosalyn Glenn (D) and Sarah Work (American Party) in the general election on November 6, 2018.
2022 election
editTreasurer Curtis Loftis had no primary opponent and as such was automatically the Republican nominee. No Democrat candidate filed to challenge Treasure Loftis, and he defeated Sarah Work (American Party) in the general election on November 8, 2022. The election results were 1,129,961 (79.67%) for Loftis vs. 281,695 (19.86%) for Work.[16]
Office
editThe Treasurer is the sole investor of the Local Government Investment Pool, (LGIP) the South Carolina Future Scholar 529 Fund and the excess funds of the state. Treasurer Loftis is the Vice Chairman of the State Fiscal Accountability Authority.
Treasurer Loftis is Chairman of the Board of Financial Institutions which supervises state chartered financial institutions and supervises mortgage originators and lenders, finance companies, pay day lenders, and title lenders. He is a member of the South Carolina Retirement System Investment Commission, which manages the $27 billion fund and a member of the South Carolina Education Authority.
Other involvement in politics
editTreasurer Loftis served as State Chairman of Mitt Romney's 2012 campaign in South Carolina. Treasurer Loftis served as the Chairman of South Carolina's delegation to the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fl.[17]
COVID-19 Pandemic Facebook Post
editOn June 5, 2020, during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests and immediately following the COVID-19 quarantine, Loftis posted criticism of Black Lives Matter in a Facebook post, expressing support for several far-right conspiracy theories, including forced-human-microchipping, health passports, and toxic vaccinations.[18]
Electoral history
edit| South Carolina Treasurer Republican Primary Election, 2010 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Republican | Curtis Loftis | 239,296 | 61.60 |
| Republican | Converse Chellis (inc.) | 149,191 | 38.40 |
| South Carolina Treasurer Election, 2010 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Republican | Curtis Loftis | 907,755 | 98.94 |
| Write-ins | Write-ins | 9,748 | 1.06 |
| South Carolina Treasurer Republican Primary Election, 2014 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidates | Votes | % |
| Republican | Curtis Loftis (inc.) | 177,854 | 62.02 |
| Republican | Brian Adams | 108,934 | 37.98 |
| South Carolina Treasurer Election, 2014 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Republican | Curtis Loftis (inc.) | 857,526 | 98.75 |
| Write-ins | Write-ins | 10,819 | 1.25 |
References
edit- ^ "The Saluda Charitable Foundation was started by Curtis Loftis Jr". The Columbia Star. July 28, 2006. Retrieved November 7, 2010.
- ^ "Curtis M. Loftis, Jr". Saluda Charitable Foundation. Archived from the original on July 15, 2011. Retrieved November 5, 2010.
- ^ "Treasurer Invests In Life". The State. 2011-08-01. Archived from the original on 2011-12-11. Retrieved 2011-09-01.
- ^ "LOFTIS LIKELY TO CHALLENGE CHELLIS". FITS News. Archived from the original on 2014-03-13. Retrieved 2014-03-13.
- ^ "Loftis faces no opposition for SC treasurer". Associated Press. November 2, 2010. Retrieved November 7, 2010.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Romney, Mitt (2010). "Curtis Loftis". Free and Strong America PAC, Inc. Archived from the original on December 11, 2010. Retrieved November 7, 2010.
- ^ Huckabee, Mike (July 14, 2010). "Huck PAC Endorses Curtis Loftis For State Treasurer Of South Carolina". Retrieved November 7, 2010.
- ^ "Election Results". South Carolina Election Commission.
- ^ "Election Results by county". South Carolina Election Commission.
- ^ "Curtis Loftis First Republican To Beat Incumbent In Statewide Primary". South Carolina Republican Party. Archived from the original on July 25, 2012. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
- ^ "SC Senate report says $1.8B blunder is Treasurer Loftis' fault". South Carolina Daily Gazette. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
- ^ "South Carolina Code of Laws Unannotated, Title 11-Public Funds, Section 11-5-120". South Carolina Legislative Services Agency. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
- ^ "SC Senate report says $1.8B blunder is Treasurer Loftis' fault". South Carolina Daily Gazette. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
- ^ "SC treasurer nearly posted sensitive financial information before his office was stopped". The (Columbia, S.C.) State. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
- ^ "SC Senate report says $1.8B blunder is Treasurer Loftis' fault". South Carolina Daily Gazette. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
- ^ "SCVotes.gov November 8, 2022 Election Results". SCVotes.gov. SC State Election Commission. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
- ^ "SC at the RNC: The delegation". The State. 2012-05-23. Archived from the original on 2012-08-30. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
- ^ [1]
