South Carolina Superintendent of Education election, 2026

• Congress elections
  • U.S. Congress
  • U.S. Senate
  • U.S. House
  • Congressional special elections
• State elections
  • Ballot measures
  • State executives
  • State legislatures
  • State legislature special elections
  • State supreme courts
  • Intermediate appellate courts
• Local elections
  • Ballot measures
  • Municipal government
  • School boards
  • Trial courts
  • Political recalls
  • Additional local elections
• Voter information
  • Sample ballot
  • Election calendar
  • Election results
  • Poll opening and closing times
  • Voting policies

← 2022
South Carolina Superintendent of Education
Election details
Filing deadline: March 30, 2026
Primary: Pending Primary runoff: Pending General: November 3, 2026
How to vote
Poll times: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Voting in South Carolina
Ballotpedia analysis
Federal and state primary competitiveness State executive elections in 2026 Impact of term limits in 2026 State government trifectas State government triplexes Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2026
South Carolina executive elections
Governor Lieutenant Governor Attorney General Secretary of State Agriculture Commissioner Comptroller Superintendent of Education Treasurer

South Carolina is holding an election for superintendent of education on November 3, 2026.

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Candidates and election results

Note: The following list includes official candidates only. Ballotpedia defines official candidates as people who:

• Register with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline
• Appear on candidate lists released by government election agencies

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

Candidate profiles

There are currently no candidate profiles created for this race. Candidate profiles will appear here as they are created. Encourage the candidates in this race to complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey so that their profile will appear here.

Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

No candidate in this race has completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Ballotpedia is seeking 100 percent participation so voters can learn more about all the candidates on their ballots.

Voting information

See also: Voting in South Carolina

Ballotpedia will publish the dates and deadlines related to this election as they are made available.

Past elections

The section below details election results for this office in elections dating back to 2014.

2022

See also: South Carolina Superintendent of Education election, 2022

General election

General election for South Carolina Superintendent of Education

Ellen Weaver defeated Lisa Ellis and Patricia Mickel in the general election for South Carolina Superintendent of Education on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ellen Weaver (R)	55.5	937,493
		Lisa Ellis (D / Alliance Party)	42.8	722,013
	Submit photo	Patricia Mickel (G)	1.6	27,468
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	1,744

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,688,718
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary runoff election

Republican primary runoff for South Carolina Superintendent of Education

Ellen Weaver defeated Kathy Maness in the Republican primary runoff for South Carolina Superintendent of Education on June 28, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ellen Weaver	63.9	111,643
	Submit photo	Kathy Maness	36.1	63,080

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 174,723
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for South Carolina Superintendent of Education

Lisa Ellis defeated Gary Burgess and Jerry Govan Jr. in the Democratic primary for South Carolina Superintendent of Education on June 14, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Lisa Ellis	50.1	87,529
		Gary Burgess	31.2	54,464
		Jerry Govan Jr.	18.7	32,665

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 174,658
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for South Carolina Superintendent of Education

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for South Carolina Superintendent of Education on June 14, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Kathy Maness	30.6	103,608
✔		Ellen Weaver	23.3	79,077
	Submit photo	Travis Bedson	13.9	47,241
	Submit photo	Bryan Chapman	12.5	42,498
		Kizzi Gibson	11.1	37,743
		Lynda Leventis-Wells	8.5	28,755

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 338,922
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Cindy Bohn Coats (R)
• Sheri Few (R)

Alliance Party convention

Alliance Party convention for South Carolina Superintendent of Education

Lisa Ellis advanced from the Alliance Party convention for South Carolina Superintendent of Education on April 23, 2022.

		Candidate
✔		Lisa Ellis (Alliance Party)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Green convention

Green convention for South Carolina Superintendent of Education

Patricia Mickel advanced from the Green convention for South Carolina Superintendent of Education on May 7, 2022.

		Candidate
✔	Submit photo	Patricia Mickel (G)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2018

See also: South Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction election, 2018

General election

General election for South Carolina Superintendent of Education

Incumbent Molly Mitchell Spearman won election in the general election for South Carolina Superintendent of Education on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Molly Mitchell Spearman (R)	98.1	998,057
		Other/Write-in votes	1.9	18,866

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,016,923
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• James Robbins (Independent)
• Israel Romero (D)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for South Carolina Superintendent of Education

Israel Romero advanced from the Democratic primary for South Carolina Superintendent of Education on June 12, 2018.

		Candidate
✔	Submit photo	Israel Romero

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for South Carolina Superintendent of Education

Incumbent Molly Mitchell Spearman advanced from the Republican primary for South Carolina Superintendent of Education on June 12, 2018.

		Candidate
✔		Molly Mitchell Spearman

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2014

See also: South Carolina down ballot state executive elections, 2014

Republican Molly Mitchell Spearman won election on November 4, 2014.

South Carolina Superintendent, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Molly Mitchell Spearman	57%	699,081
	Democratic	Tom Thompson	38.8%	476,358
	American	Ed Murray	3.8%	46,695
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0.4%	5,055
Total Votes				1,227,189
Election results via South Carolina State Election Commission

Election analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about demographics, past elections, and partisan control of the state.

• Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the state.
• Statewide elections - Information about recent U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections in the state.
• State partisanship - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.
• Demographics - Information about the state's demographics and how they compare to the country as a whole.

• Presidential elections
• Statewide elections
• State partisanship
• Demographics

See also: Presidential voting trends in South Carolina and The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Cook PVI by congressional district

2024 presidential results by 2026 congressional district lines

2024 presidential results in congressional districts, South Carolina

District	Kamala Harris	Donald Trump
South Carolina's 1st	43.0%	56.0%
South Carolina's 2nd	42.0%	56.0%
South Carolina's 3rd	28.0%	71.0%
South Carolina's 4th	37.0%	61.0%
South Carolina's 5th	38.0%	61.0%
South Carolina's 6th	61.0%	38.0%
South Carolina's 7th	36.0%	63.0%
Source: The Downballot

2016-2024

How a state's counties vote in a presidential election and the size of those counties can provide additional insights into election outcomes at other levels of government including statewide and congressional races. Below, four categories are used to describe each county's voting pattern over the 2016, 2020, and 2024 presidential elections: Solid, Trending, Battleground, and New. Click [show] on the table below for examples:

County-level voting pattern categories
Democratic
Status	2016	2020	2024
Solid Democratic	D	D	D
Trending Democratic	R	D	D
Battleground Democratic	D	R	D
New Democratic	R	R	D
Republican
Status	2016	2020	2024
Solid Republican	R	R	R
Trending Republican	D	R	R
Battleground Republican	R	D	R
New Republican	D	D	R

Following the 2024 presidential election, 76% of South Carolinians lived in one of the state's 31 Solid Republican counties, which voted for the Republican presidential candidate in every election from 2016 to 2024, and 22.2% lived in one of 12 Solid Democratic counties. Overall, South Carolina was Solid Republican, having voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016, Donald Trump (R) in 2020, and Donald Trump (R) in 2024. Use the table below to view the total number of each type of county in South Carolina following the 2024 election as well as the overall percentage of the state population located in each county type.

South Carolina county-level statistics, 2024
Solid Republican	31	76.0%
Solid Democratic	12	22.2%
Trending Republican	2	1.1%
New Republican	1	0.6%
Total voted Democratic	12	22.2%
Total voted Republican	34	77.8%

Historical voting trends

South Carolina presidential election results (1900-2024)

• 16 Democratic wins
• 15 Republican wins
• 1 other win

Year	1900	1904	1908	1912	1916	1920	1924	1928	1932	1936	1940	1944	1948	1952	1956	1960	1964	1968	1972	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	2016	2020	2024
Winning Party	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	SR	D	D	D	R	R	R	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

This section details the results of the five most recent U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections held in the state.

U.S. Senate elections

See also: List of United States Senators from South Carolina

The table below details the vote in the five most recent U.S. Senate races in South Carolina.

U.S. Senate election results in South Carolina

Race	Winner	Runner up
2022	62.9%	37.0%
2020	54.5%	44.2%
2016	60.5%	37.0%
2014	54.3%	38.8%
2014	61.1%	37.1%
Average	58.7	38.8

Gubernatorial elections

See also: Governor of South Carolina

The table below details the vote in the five most recent gubernatorial elections in South Carolina.

Gubernatorial election results in South Carolina

Race	Winner	Runner up
2022	58.0%	40.7%
2018	54.0%	45.9%
2014	55.9%	41.4%
2010	51.4%	46.9%
2006	55.1%	44.8%
Average	54.9	43.9

See also: Party control of South Carolina state government

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of South Carolina's congressional delegation as of October 2025.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from South Carolina
Party	U.S. Senate	U.S. House	Total
Democratic	0	1	1
Republican	2	6	8
Independent	0	0	0
Vacancies	0	0	0
Total	2	7	9

State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in South Carolina's top four state executive offices as of October 2025.

State executive officials in South Carolina, October 2025

Office	Officeholder
Governor	Henry McMaster
Lieutenant Governor	Pamela Evette
Secretary of State	Mark Hammond
Attorney General	Alan Wilson

State legislature

South Carolina State Senate

Party		As of October 2025
	Democratic Party	12
	Republican Party	33
	Other	0
	Vacancies	1
Total		46

South Carolina House of Representatives

Party		As of October 2025
	Democratic Party	36
	Republican Party	86
	Other	0
	Vacancies	2
Total		124

Trifecta control

South Carolina Party Control: 1992-2025
No Democratic trifectas  •  Twenty-three years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25
Governor	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
Senate	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
House	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

The table below details demographic data in South Carolina and compares it to the broader United States as of 2023.

Demographic Data for South Carolina
	South Carolina	United States
Population	5,118,425	331,449,281
Land area (sq mi)	30,063	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White	64.1%	63.4%
Black/African American	25.3%	12.4%
Asian	1.7%	5.8%
Native American	0.3%	0.9%
Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.4%
Other (single race)	2.7%	6.6%
Multiple	5.8%	10.7%
Hispanic/Latino	7.1%	19%
Education
High school graduation rate	89.6%	89.4%
College graduation rate	31.5%	35%
Income
Median household income	$66,818	$78,538
Persons below poverty level	14.2%	12.4%
Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2018-2023).
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• South Carolina superintendent of education official website

Footnotes

2026 state executive official elections

Governor

Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Florida • Georgia • Guam • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Iowa • Kansas • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Mexico • New York • Northern Mariana Islands • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • U.S. Virgin Islands • Vermont • Wisconsin • Wyoming

Lieutenant Governor

Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Florida • Georgia • Guam • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Iowa • Kansas • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Nebraska • Nevada • New Mexico • New York • Northern Mariana Islands • Ohio • Oklahoma • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Texas • U.S. Virgin Islands • Vermont • Wisconsin

Attorney General

Alabama • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Guam • Idaho • Illinois • Iowa • Kansas • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Nebraska • Nevada • New Mexico • New York • North Dakota • Northern Mariana Islands • Ohio • Oklahoma • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Texas • Vermont • Wisconsin

Secretary of State

Alabama • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Georgia • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Nebraska • Nevada • New Mexico • North Dakota • Ohio • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Vermont • Wisconsin • Wyoming

Treasurer

Alabama • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Massachusetts • Nebraska • Nevada • New Mexico • Ohio • Oklahoma • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Vermont • Wisconsin • Wyoming

Auditor

Alabama • Arkansas • Delaware • Iowa • Massachusetts • Minnesota • Missouri • Nebraska • New Mexico • Ohio • Oklahoma • South Dakota • Vermont • Wyoming

Comptroller

California • Connecticut • Idaho • Illinois • Maryland • Nevada • New York • South Carolina • Texas

Education officials

Alabama (board of education) • Arizona (superintendent) • California (superintendent) • Colorado (board of education) • Colorado (board of regent) • District of Columbia (board of education) • Georgia (superintendent) • Guam (education board) • Idaho (superintendent) • Kansas (board of education) • Michigan (board of education) • Michigan (board of regent) • Michigan (board of trustees) • Michigan (board of governors) • Nebraska (board of education) • Nebraska (board of regents) • Nevada (board of regents) • New Mexico (board of education) • Northern Mariana Islands (board of education) • Ohio (board of education) • Oklahoma (superintendent) • South Carolina (superintendent) • Texas (board of education) • U.S. Virgin Islands (board of education) • Utah (board of education) • Wyoming (superintendent)

Commissioners

Alabama (agriculture) • Alabama (public service) • Arizona (corporation) • Arizona (mine inspector) • Arkansas (public lands) • California (board of equalization) • California (insurance) • Florida (agriculture) • Georgia (agriculture) • Georgia (labor) • Georgia (insurance) • Georgia (public service) • Guam (utilities) • Hawaii (Hawaiian affairs) • Iowa (agriculture) • Kansas (insurance) • Louisiana (public service) • Massachusetts (governor's council) • Montana (public service) • Nebraska (public service) • New Hampshire (executive council) • New Mexico (public lands) • North Dakota (agriculture) • North Dakota (public service) • North Dakota (tax) • Oklahoma (corporation) • Oklahoma (insurance) • Oklahoma (labor) • Oregon (labor) • South Carolina (agriculture) • South Dakota (public lands) • South Dakota (public utilities) • Texas (agriculture) • Texas (public lands) • Texas (railroad) • U.S. Virgin Islands (board of elections)

State executive offices

Offices

Governor • Lt. Governor • Secretary of State • Attorney General • Treasurer • Auditor • Superintendent of Schools • Insurance Commissioner • Controller • Agriculture Commissioner • Natural Resources Commissioner • Labor Commissioner • Public Service Commissioner

States

Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Jersey • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Virginia • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming

Elections

2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011 • 2010

Features

Chart of state executive officers • Compensation • How gubernatorial vacancies are filled • How vacancies are filled in state executive offices • State executive officials serving in home states • State government trifectas • State of the state addresses • Term limits

Ballotpedia

About

Overview • What people are saying • Support Ballotpedia • Contact • Contribute • Job opportunities

---

Executive: Leslie Graves, Founder and CEO • Gwen Beattie, Chief Operating Officer

Communications: Alison Graves, Director of Communications • Carley Allensworth • Abigail Campbell • Frank Festa • Sarah Groat • Nathaniel Harwood • Dillon Redmond
External Relations: Geoff Pallay, Director of External Relations • Ken Carbullido, Vice President of Election Product and Technology Strategy • Ashley Fleming • Thomas Mardik • Hannah Nelson
Operations: Meghann Olshefski, Director of Operations • Amanda Herbert • Mandy Morris • Caroline Presnell • Kelly Rindfleisch
Tech: Matt Latourelle, Director of Technology Operations • Ryan Burch • Kirsten Corrao • Beth Dellea • Travis Eden • Tate Kamish • Margaret Kearney • Eric Lotto • Joseph Sanchez • Mary Susmitha

Contributors: Scott Rasmussen

---

Editorial Content

Josh Altic, Director of Content • Daniel Anderson, Associate Director of Elections & Data • Cory Eucalitto, Associate Director of Features • Ryan Byrne, Managing Editor of Ballot Measures • Mandy McConnell, Managing Editor of News • Doug Kronaizl, Managing Editor of Local Expansion • Abbey Smith, Managing Editor of Elections • Janie Valentine, Managing Editor of Law • Joel Williams, Managing Editor of Events • Andrew Bahl • Jaclyn Beran • Marielle Bricker • Joseph Brusgard • Emma Burlingame • Kelly Coyle • Jon Dunn • Victoria Edwards • Thomas Ellis • Nicole Fisher • Joseph Greaney • Thomas Grobben • Brianna Hosea • Molly Kehoe • Tyler King • Glorie Martinez • Norm Leahy, Senior Editor • Nathan Maxwell • Jimmy McAllister • Brandon McCauley • Ellie Mikus • Ellen Morrissey • Mackenzie Murphy • Kaley Platek • Samantha Post • Adam Powell • Annelise Reinwald • Spencer Richardson • Victoria Rose • Briana Ryan • Myj Saintyl • Maddy Salucka • Emma Soukup • Alexis Thacker • Mina Vogel • Samuel Wonacott • Trenton Woodcox