SC Superintendent Ellen Weaver has 3 challengers for her seat. Who wants her job?
The field is set.
Three educators will challenge Republican state Superintendent Ellen Weaver in her bid for another four years as South Carolina schools chief.
Lisa Ellis and Sylvia Wright, both career educators, have filed to run as Democrats, and Baba Amin Ojuok, the founder of an African-centered online private school, will run on the United Citizens Party ticket.
The deadline to file was Monday at noon. Democratic voters will select their nominee June 9.
Weaver, a Greenville native who was first elected in 2022, is the heavy favorite. She earns a $214,000 salary as the state’s schools chief.
Prior to becoming state superintendent, Weaver chaired the Education Oversight Committee and served as president of the Palmetto Promise Institute, a conservative think tank she founded with former U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-SC.
Ellis, who lost to Weaver by 16 points in the 2022 general election, will square off with Wright for the Democratic nomination.
She is the founder of education advocacy organization SC for Ed, which rallied thousands of teachers at the State House in 2019, and currently serves as student activities director at Blythewood High School in Richland School District 2.
Wright, a North Charleston native, is a former teacher and district curriculum coordinator who is working on a doctoral degree in education at the University of South Carolina.
She’s been endorsed by several state lawmakers, including Rep. Leon Howard, D-Richland, and former South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Trav Robertson.
Ojuok, founder of The Uhuru Academy, an online K-12 school with students across the country, is running on the United Citizens Party ticket.
The Hopkins resident, who moved to South Carolina from Texas in 2019, has been working with youth and families in a variety of capacities for over 30 years, he said.
This story was originally published March 31, 2026 at 8:17 AM.