Curtis M. Loftis Jr. was re-elected as state treasurer of South Carolina on Tuesday, while House Majority Leader, and Wall Street ally, Eric Cantor, R-Va., lost his Republican primary the same night.
Mr. Loftis defeated Republican primary challenger Brian Adams. There is no Democratic candidate for treasurer. As state treasurer, Mr. Loftis is a commissioner on the South Carolina Retirement System Investment Committee, Columbia, which oversees the state's $29.9 billion in retirement assets.
Mr. Loftis will continue as commissioner following two years of tension between him, the other six commissioners and the commission staff. Those tensions peaked in February of last year when the other commissioners voted to censure Mr. Loftis for making allegedly misleading statements about the commission to media outlets since 2011.
“In 2010, I promised to make transparency and accountability the cornerstones of my efforts to protect your money,” Mr. Loftis said in an e-mailed statement. “I am proud to say that I have done just that. Some insiders and special interests are not happy with me, but I don't work for them.”
Daniel Brennan, Mr. Loftis' spokesman, did not return a phone call by press time.
Separately, Mr. Cantor lost the Republican primary for his House seat on Tuesday to challenger David Brat.
Mr. Cantor has been a Wall Street ally on issues ranging from the 2008 Troubled Asset Relief Program to defending the Export-Import Bank and had also co-sponsored a bill in the fall of 2007 to delay funding requirements in the Pension Protection Act of 2006.
Mr. Cantor's spokeswoman Megan Whittemore could not be reached by press time.
Bloomberg contributed to this story.
