Retired SC educator, Democratic Rep. Jerry Govan to run for state schools superintendent
South Carolina Rep. Jerry Govan, who lost his state House seat when it was merged with another lawmaker’s after the Legislature redrew the voting maps this year, will run for state superintendent of education.
Govan, 64, announced his candidacy Friday at the State House, standing next to House Assistant Minority Leader Russell Ott, D-Calhoun, whose district was combined with Govan’s. Ott is seeking reelection.
Govan, an Orangeburg Democrat and graduate of the state’s only public, four-year historically Black college, S.C. State University, was elected to the House in in 1992. He sits on the chamber’s Education and Public Works committee and Operations and Management committee, and is the former chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus.
It’ll be Govan’s second run for the statewide education seat, after he unsuccessfully lost his primary bid for superintendent in 2014. Govan said he entered that election after former state Rep. Mike Anthony dropped out of the superintendent’s race.
“I’m not getting in at the tail end,” Govan said of his candidacy this time.
Govan again, however, will join a crowded field of candidates seeking to become the next schools chief to succeed Superintendent Molly Spearman, who announced last year she would not seek reelection in 2022.
Only one candidate had so far filed Friday morning with the State Election Commission: Republican Ellen Weaver, head of the conservative think tank Palmetto Promise Institute and former chairwoman of the state’s Education Oversight Committee.
At least four other candidates are expected to file on the Republican side: Cindy Coats, a three-term Charleston County school board member and former board chair; Lexington County educator Kizzi Staley Gibson; Greenville County school board trustee Lynda Leventis-Wells; and Kathy Maness, head of the Palmetto State Teachers Association, the state’s largest teachers group.
Former Anderson 4 Superintendent Gary Burgess said recently he’ll seek the Democratic nomination.
“My attitude has always been about pursuing and doing purpose,” Govan said Friday when asked how he’ll differ from other candidates. “This is about children, and I think it’s indeed critical that we talk about issues and not about politics. I’m talking about things such as rebuilding the trust, trust between parents and educators. That’s a big issue right now. I’m talking about things like keeping our students in schools safe.”
Candidate filing closes March 30.
Govan was one of a handful of incumbents whose districts were merged amid the once-in-a-decade redistricting process.
Given the district change and his superintendent run, Govan said Friday he will not run for another term in the House — one of nearly a dozen incumbents who will retire from the Legislature this year.
“However, we have to not look backward,” Govan said. “It’s important that we look forward. So, yes, my district was dismembered, but that still would not have made me not make the decision that I’m making in terms of seeking to empower and trying to move the state forward when it comes to a positive educational agenda.”
This story was originally published March 18, 2022 at 9:11 AM with the headline "Retired SC educator, Democratic Rep. Jerry Govan to run for state schools superintendent."
