The Real MAGA Candidate For South Carolina Governor?

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The race for governor of South Carolina in 2026 will be all about MAGA – even if not all of the candidates are.

When I say “all about MAGA,” I’m not just talking about competing for a potentially decisive endorsement from U.S. president Donald Trump – who is monolithically revered by the Palmetto State’s GOP electorate. That will be pivotal, obviously. I’m actually referring to a broader philosophical alignment with ‘America First’ principles – and an ability to authentically convey those principles to the electorate.

In recent weeks, a name has been floated in connection with the governor’s race which many believe has the ability to accomplish such authentic MAGA conveyance…

That name? Ken Ard.

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The story of Ken Ard involves quite a narrative arc. In 2010, the Pamplico, S.C. native – then 48 years old – was elected lieutenant governor of the Palmetto State in a landslide. But Ard resigned his office after just fourteen months when he was implicated in a campaign finance scandal.

His crime? Routing his own money through a network of “donors” in an attempt to convey grassroots financial support for his candidacy.

Did Ard rip off taxpayers? Or legitimate donors? No… his artifice merely made it appear as though he had more organic financial support than he actually had. It wasn’t so much corrupt as it was dumb… and Ard paid for his misjudgment with his office.

“My mistakes are well-documented, I took responsibility for them, and I paid a pretty severe price for them,” Ard told us in an interview several years ago. “I knocked the dust off and moved on.”

Indeed he did…

In the years following this scandal, Ard has accomplished a remarkable comeback – one encompassing both business and politics. While he has not sought elected office again, he has emerged as one of the dominant voices of the MAGA movement in the Palmetto State.

Ard has built a media empire in the Pee Dee region of South Carolina, “effortlessly meshing good ol’ boy bravado with paleo conservative populism,” as I’ve previously noted.

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GOOD MORNING pic.twitter.com/Whti9uLPfv

— Ken Ard (@KardSC) January 20, 2025

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“Don’t let his Pamplico drawl fool you, either … Ard is as gifted an orator as you are going to hear (whether in his on-air monologues or the commentaries he posts to his social media accounts),” I added.

Along the way, he’s become one of the most thoughtful, philosophic voices in the Palmetto political discourse… infusing MAGA rhetoric with libertarian ideological roots, learned constitutional scholarship and intimate personal experience.

“I lived de-industrialization and globalism,” he told me recently. “Watched it from the front row.”

Anyone going on Ard’s show knows two things: 1) He’s going to command the issues he raises, and 2) he’s going to communicate them compellingly.

Due to the sheer force of his personality, Ard’s radio show has become an absolute “must visit” for anyone seeking statewide office… and for that matter anyone campaigning in the Palmetto State’s ‘First in the South’ GOP presidential primary.

In his spare time, Ard also occasionally pens insightful – and incisive – guest columns for FITSNews.

“I can’t defend everything Donald Trump says or does,” he wrote in one such piece. “But I do emphatically defend what he symbolizes: A disruption. Maybe even instability. He’s not a threat to democracy but rather an indictment of the failed globalist, interventionist elites that have promoted endless wars and dreadful trade deals. And sold the average American down the river.”

This is exactly what we are seeing play out, too…

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So… confronted by a political class in South Carolina which continues to sell its citizens down the river, is Ard interested in a potential gubernatorial bid? After spending fourteen months “a heartbeat away” from the office, would the man potentially best positioned to hoist the MAGA mantle in this election consider giving it a go?

“I’m flattered and confused that some still consider me politically relevant as a candidate,” Ard told me this week. “But I have ZERO interest. I’ll be 62 this year and life is good. My youngest kid graduates from the Darla Moore School of Business in May and I’ve made some promises to my train smoking hot wife that I gotta keep. I will, however, continue to do everything I can to push this outsider MAGA movement that I believe in with all my heart. And I’ll continue my relentless pursuit to be named the official Ambassador to Pawleys Island.”

Ard’s “ZERO” interest in the governorship notwithstanding, I’ve spoken with several South Carolina politicos who would nonetheless like to see him jump in.

“Why not?” one told me. “Point me to a more relatable candidate.”

Personally, I’d love to see Ard run. He is the kind of candidate who can speak to – and presumably for – those in our state who desperately need to be heard right now. Accordingly, I believe he would make a substantive addition to the developing field not only in his own right as a candidate – but more importantly – as someone who could provide a necessary measure of accountability for the other contenders.

As of this writing, the 2026 race currently consists of first district congresswoman Nancy Mace, attorney general Alan Wilson and lieutenant governor Pamela Evette as its prospective frontrunners. Former two-term governor Mark Sanford is also reportedly considering a run for the office he held from 2003-2011. The names of numerous other potential contenders – including state senators Sean Bennett and Josh Kimbrell – are also in the mix. Upstate businessman John Warren could also mount another campaign for the office which narrowly eluded him in 2018.

Oh, and one candidate – Thomas Ravenel – has already entered the race and dropped out.

Keep it tuned to FITSNews as this fluid field continues to take shape…

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

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