Inez Tenenbaum

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Inez Moore Tenenbaum (born March 8, 1951) is a U.S. politician from the state of South Carolina.

Born in Hawkinsville, Georgia, Tenenbaum graduated from the University of Georgia in 1972, and received a law degree from the University of South Carolina in 1986.

Originally a teacher, Tenenbaum practiced with a private law firm from 1986 to 1992, and entered government service in the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice in 1989. Tenenbaum was elected State Superintendent of Education in 1998 and was reelected in 2002.

Tenenbaum was the Democratic candidate for retiring Democrat Fritz Hollings's seat in the U.S. Senate; she lost in the 2004 election to Republican Jim DeMint. She was often named as a potential Democratic candidate for Governor in 2006. She chose not to run, however, but hinted she will run for some other office in the future.

Tenenbaum resides in Lexington, South Carolina with her husband, Samuel Tenenbaum.

She was replaced as Superintendent of Education by Democrat Jim Rex on January 10, 2007.