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by WILL FOLKS
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South Carolina congressman Ralph Norman is investing heavily in his bid for governor of the Palmetto State in 2026, according to a news release from his campaign.
Norman lent his candidacy $500,000 during the recently concluded fundraising quarter, which is the same amount he pumped into his coffers during the third quarter of last year. According to the wealthy real estate developer, he will report a total of $1 million raised during the fourth quarter of 2025 – leaving him with an estimated $1.9 million cash on hand heading into the current year.
Official campaign finance reports are due to the S.C. State Ethics Commission (SCSEC) on January 10, 2025. At that point, we’ll have a much better picture of the money race as multiple candidates seek to replace outgoing status quo governor Henry McMaster.
“The future of our state is too important to leave to chance,” Norman said in a statement accompanying the announcement of his financial totals for the quarter. “As a successful businessman and proven conservative, I’m running for governor to get rid of the incompetent bureaucrats, the corrupt politicians, and the RINOs who have failed at every level.”
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“As governor, we’ll fix our roads, improve our schools, and clean up Columbia once and for all,” Norman continued. “I intend to win this race, and I’ll have everything I need to make sure South Carolinians hear our message.”
Norman has represented South Carolina’s fifth congressional district in the U.S. Congress since June 2017. Prior to that he served two stints in the S.C. House of Representatives. He is one of four major candidates seeking the GOP gubernatorial nomination – along with attorney general Alan Wilson, lieutenant governor Pamela Evette and first district congresswoman Nancy Mace.
All four of those candidates boasted impressive hauls during the third quarter of last year – but it remains to be seen whether they can sustain that monetary momentum moving forward.
Recent polling has shown Wilson at the head of the pack as the pivotal Republican primary election starts to heat up, followed by Evette, Norman and Mace – the latter of whom was the original frontrunner in this contest.
The race remains wide open, though… and as we have previously noted, the field may not be completely set.
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RELATED | CAN NANCY MACE READ THE ROOM?
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Speculation is swirling about potential late entries into this race – which is the first open gubernatorial election (i.e. the first election not featuring an incumbent) in the Palmetto State since 2010.
Candidates must formally file their statements of candidacy between March 15-30, 2026, with partisan primary elections scheduled for Tuesday, June 9, 2026. In the event no candidate receives a majority of votes on the first ballot, a head-to-head runoff election between the top two vote-getters would be held two weeks later (on June 23, 2026).
As we often note, the GOP primary is the race to watch in South Carolina, as Democrats haven’t won a gubernatorial election or a U.S. Senate race since 1998 – and haven’t won a statewide election since 2006.
As we did with the last round of campaign filings, count on FITSNews to break down the latest disclosures in detail once each candidate formally submits their paperwork to the SCSEC. Also, please remember: these campaign finance filings represent only disclosures linked to the official campaign organizations of each candidate. There are multiple political action committees spending even bigger bucks in support of – or opposition to – various candidates, money which is much harder to track.
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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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1 comment
RINO Ralphie, one more RINO in Congress who voted to install RINO Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker.
No thanks!