The Loftis Ledger
Curtis Loftis · SC Treasurer · On your ballot Nov. 3

Your bill so far

$11.25M

You paid to clean up the $1.8 billion mess on his books.

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA · ITEMIZED

Attorney General$3,923,957
Forensic audit and admin$3,235,728
State Auditor$1,781,613
Comptroller General$1,298,308
His own office$998,197
State Senate$16,165
TOTAL$11,253,968

Through Aug. 2025. Source: The Nerve

$72,258on a crisis PR firm
$139,771in extra loan interest
~$65Msent to the wrong account
See the receipts Take the pop audit
State Treasurer Curtis Loftis
33-8The Senate voted to remove him. The House never voted.

Final notice · 6 items past due

  • Warnedin 2016 and 2017
  • 23,342entries made by his own staff
  • Under oathhe swore the money was real
  • RV tripinstead of a Senate hearing
  • 120%late penalty on a voting-machine loan
  • Openfederal probe of the state's books
STATEMENT OF ACCOUNT
Office of the State Treasurer, South Carolina
Account holder: CURTIS M. LOFTIS JR.
Term: 2011 to present  |  Due: Nov. 3, 2026

South Carolina's banker since 2011

One job. Overdrawn.

The treasurer's job is to keep the state's books straight. A Republican Senate, outside auditors and the state's own watchdog all checked his work. Here is what they found.

Money on his books$1.8 billion
Never real money~$1.6 billion
Years before lawmakers found out~7
Cost to clean it up$11.25 million
Senate vote to remove33-8
23,342entries into the account made by his own staff
2016the year auditors first flagged the problem
120%yearly late penalty his office agreed to on a $30.8M loan
~$65Msent to the wrong account since 2019

The receipts

Every line is backed by a public record.

All of this comes from Republican senators, outside auditors and the state watchdog. Tap any source to check it yourself.

Posted Item Amount
2016-2023

$1.8 billion on paper. About $1.6 billion of it was never real.

An account on his office's books grew to $1.8 billion after a computer system switch. Outside auditors found about $1.6 billion of it was never real money. Lawmakers did not hear about it for about seven years.

Source: AlixPartners forensic audit, Jan. 2025 		$1.8B
2016, 2017

Warned in 2016. Warned in 2017. Told no one.

Auditors reported that his office's cash records did not match, first in 2016 and again in 2017. His office promised a fix by 2018. Senators called it "inconceivable" that he did not know.

Source: Senate Finance subcommittee final report, Mar. 2025 		2 warnings
2014-2017

His project. His staff. 23,342 entries.

He sponsored the project to move the state's books to a new computer system. Senate investigators found his own staff made 23,342 entries into the problem account. The auditors said the project "was really owned by the Treasurer's Office."

Source: Senate Finance subcommittee final report 		23,342
Apr. 2024

He swore it was real. It was not.

Under oath, he told senators the $1.8 billion was real money that had earned about $225 million in interest. After auditors showed most of it was not real, he said his office "knew all along."

Source: Senate Finance subcommittee final report 		$225M claimed
Feb. 2025

Senators called. He took the RV.

When senators called a hearing, his office said he had a "long-planned trip." It turned out to be an RV trip on the Appalachian Trail. He sent six staff members instead.

Source: Senate Finance subcommittee final report 		6 staffers
FY2025

Your money paid for his damage control.

The state Inspector General, the state's official watchdog, found his office spent $72,258 on a crisis PR firm. The firm helped his staff prepare for a Senate hearing.

Source: SC Inspector General report, May 2026 		$72,258
2024-2025

He put a voting-machine loan on a 120% late penalty.

The Inspector General found his office never checked whether the Election Commission could repay a $30.8 million loan for voting machines. His office also agreed to a late penalty worth about 120% a year, which the watchdog said hurt the public.

Source: SC Inspector General report, May 2026 		$30.8M
2019-2025

$65 million in the wrong account. For six years.

The Inspector General found about $65 million in investment earnings went to the wrong account instead of the state's main budget. The problem was spotted in 2020, 2021 and 2022, and it kept happening.

Source: SC Public Radio on the IG report, May 2026 		~$65M
Ongoing

Federal investigators are in the state's books. Still.

His own office confirms the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the state's financial reports. The state spent $4 million on lawyers for the case by early 2025 and asked for $5 million more.

Sources: Treasurer's Office document · SC Daily Gazette 		$9M+
2016

Reprimanded for hiring his friend.

The State Ethics Commission reprimanded and fined him for helping hire a longtime friend and business partner as a lawyer for the state without disclosing their relationship.

Source: Cola Daily, Oct. 2016 		Reprimand

Republicans on Curtis Loftis

Their own words

Not Democrats. Not his opponent. The Republicans who investigated him.

"State Treasurer Curtis Loftis has broken his oath of office."
Senate Finance Constitutional Subcommittee (bipartisan), final report, March 25, 2025
"I'd vote for a monkey over Curtis Loftis. I think he has no business being treasurer."
Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey (R), AP, April 2025
"The self-proclaimed best friend of the taxpayer is costing the taxpayers tens of millions."
Sen. Larry Grooms (R), AP, April 21, 2025
"If the treasurer were about the business of following state statutes and doing his job, we would have confidence. But we don't."
Sen. Larry Grooms (R), SC Daily Gazette, May 14, 2026
"I'd say to the House, watch the evidence."
Sen. Stephen Goldfinch (R), April 2025
33-8

That was the Senate's vote to remove him in April 2025. Twenty-three Republicans voted yes. No statewide official in South Carolina history had faced a vote like it. Even some Republicans who voted no said he should not be treasurer.

House Republicans punted. You don't have to.

The Senate voted to remove him. Speaker Murrell Smith looked away.

Removing him took a two-thirds vote in both the Senate and the House. The Senate did its part. House Democrats were ready to do theirs: Rep. Heather Bauer filed to impeach him in January 2025. But Republican Speaker Murrell Smith never brought it up for a vote.

That is the only reason he is on your ballot. The House passed the decision to you.

Source: S.534 bill history, SC Legislature

Status of S.534

  1. Mar. 25, 2025Senate panel recommends removal
  2. Apr. 2, 2025Removal vote filed. He says he will run again.
  3. Apr. 17, 2025State Supreme Court rejects his bid to stop it
  4. Apr. 21, 2025Senate votes 33-8 to remove him
  5. Apr. 24, 2025Sent to the House, where it stalls
  6. Since thenNo House vote

His excuses vs. the record

"It was the Comptroller General's error."

The auditors said the project belonged to his office, and his staff made 23,342 of the entries. The state's top accountant and the state auditor both resigned. He is the only one still in office.

"The Inspector General found no fraud."

The watchdog found an unchecked loan, a 120% late penalty and $65 million in the wrong account.

"This is a political witch hunt."

His own party tried to fire him. Twenty-three Republican senators voted to remove him. Some witch hunt.

"I won't run again." (April 2024)

He announced he would run again the same day senators filed to remove him.

"Voters should decide."

Agreed. November 3.

Pop audit

Four quick questions

How we got here

2011

Takes office as state treasurer.

2014

Sponsors the project to move the state's books to a new system.

2016

Reprimanded by the Ethics Commission. Auditors flag that his cash records do not match.

2017

Auditors flag it again.

Dec. 2023

Tells Senate staff to ignore the problem and blame the former state accountant.

Apr. 2024

Swears the money is real. Says he will not run again.

Jan. 2025

Auditors find about $1.6 billion was never real. The state auditor resigns.

Feb. 2025

Skips a Senate hearing for an RV trip.

Apr. 2025

Announces he is running again.

Apr. 21, 2025

Senate votes 33-8 to remove him.

Apr. 2025

House leaders refuse to take it up.

May 2026

State Inspector General finds mismanagement in his office.

Nov. 3, 2026

You finish what the Senate started.

He had one job. Fire him for real.

The treasurer's job is to keep South Carolina's books straight. His own party says he failed, and the House left the decision to you. Check your registration before November 3.

Check your voter registration See every source

Sources

The proof
  1. S.534, Removal of State Treasurer: bill text and history, SC Legislature
  2. Senate Journal, April 21, 2025 (33-8 vote)
  3. Senate Finance Constitutional Subcommittee final report, March 25, 2025
  4. AlixPartners forensic accounting report, Jan. 15, 2025
  5. SC Inspector General, Limited Investigation of the Office of the State Treasurer, May 2026
  6. Treasurer's Office response document (confirms SEC investigation), Feb. 2025
  7. SC Daily Gazette: SC under federal investigation, Jan. 15, 2025
  8. SC Daily Gazette: Mismanagement by SC treasurer, May 14, 2026
  9. SC Public Radio on the Inspector General report, May 15, 2026
  10. The Nerve: Public cost grows to over $11M, Aug. 2025
  11. AP via WSPA: Loftis appears to survive removal attempt (Massey quote)
  12. SC Daily Gazette: Senate votes to remove treasurer, April 22, 2025
  13. Cola Daily: Ethics Commission reprimand, Oct. 2016
  14. Post and Courier: Loftis backtracks on plan not to run, April 2025