Rep. Gresham Barrett officially threw his hat into the ring last week, announcing his intention to run for Governor.

Barrett joins a candidate pool that includes announced candidates Furman Professor Brent Nelsen and Dem. State Senator Robert Ford and potential candidates Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer and Attorney Gen. Henry McMaster, who are both exploring the feasibility of campaigning.

There’s still plenty of time for more candidates to put their names in the hat, and we applaud any candidate who chooses to give of themselves and run for office.

That’s what democracy is all about.

That said, we don’t envy any of our gubernatorial candidates.

Whoever wins the race in 2010 has a big job ahead of them.

They’ll oversee a state that is dealing with a weakened economy, a state that is having trouble luring new industry to its borders, a state that is seeing established industries either close their doors due to the economy or leaving the state to set up shop elsewhere.

They’ll oversee a state has a 9.5 percent unemployment rate, a figure that will most likely increase before Election Day.

They’ll inherit a government that is struggling with its tax codes, with finding ways to fund programs with decreasing revenue.

They’ll oversee a state that is still fighting to bring equity to its schools, to overcome the stigma of the “Corridor of Shame,” which sees the schools with the most needs receiving the least amount of funds, a system that sees some our students taught in facilities that have not been upgraded since the 1950s.

They’ll oversee a state struggling to fund health care with declining revenues and funding cuts, and fighting to see that health care isn’t denied to those who need it the most, to see that the spiraling cost of health care doesn’t put medical attention out of the reach of most of the state.

They’ll oversee a state struggling to deal with immigration and aging infrastructure.

We’re not trying to paint a bleak picture of South Carolina; we’re just trying to be realistic.

The road to the Governor’s Office doesn’t end with the election. Once our new governor is in office, they face a rough road in the next four years.

Good luck to all our candidates for Governor, whoever they might be.

They’re going to need it.