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by WILL FOLKS
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Less than two weeks into his campaign for governor of South Carolina, wealthy Isle of Palms businessman Rom Reddy has already fired one of his four regional campaign directors.
A second regional director could soon find his head on the chopping block, too…
According to a statement from a campaign spokesman, the first regional director was terminated by the Reddy campaign for visiting a strip club during a recent campaign stop in the Upstate.
“During our upstate campaign swing we were provided credible information that one of our 20-something campaign staffers visited a strip club,” Reddy’s spokesman wrote on X. “We immediately terminated this individual. We informed him that actions have consequences.”
“Our view is that individuals and entities must be held accountable for their actions and it starts with our own team,” said Reddy, who has touted his faith as a key component of his candidacy.
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While Reddy’s campaign did not identify the staffer in question – or indicate why an adult visiting a strip club on their own time constituted a fireable offense – FITSNews has independently confirmed the terminated staffer is former Midlands regional director Parker Gogan.
Gogan’s hiring by Reddy was announced on March 22, 2026 – meaning he lasted less than a week in his position with the campaign. Reached for comment by FITSNews, Gogan respectfully declined to address the situation.
“I have no comment,” he said.
According to our sources, Gogan was one of two Reddy for governor regional directors who visited the strip club on the evening in question. At least one other individual affiliated with the campaign also attended. It is not immediately clear why the campaign terminated one of these regional directors but not the other. Reddy’s campaign did not immediately respond to inquiries from FITSNews regarding the status of the second regional director. Meanwhile, text and phone messages to the regional director in question yielded no response.
In the event we receive responses – or clarification regarding the second regional director’s employment status – we will be sure to update our audience.
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RELATED | S.C. SURVEY SCANDAL
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Frankly, we do not understand why either employee would be fired for such conduct. Seriously, if campaign staffers visiting adult entertainment venues was grounds for termination, 90% of the Palmetto State’s political operatives would be out of work.
But firing one operative and not another for the same alleged conduct?
That seems inherently unfair…
This imbalance notwithstanding, the Reddy campaign’s strip club drama is problematic for other reasons. Hardcore evangelicals will no doubt be virulently offended by the conduct, while libertarian-leaning GOP primary voters will likely be offended at Reddy’s heavy-handed response to it.
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UPDATE |
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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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12 comments
Will, one reason these guys could be fired for this conduct is that they may have been warned that their actions in public, both on and off the clock, can be seized upon by their political opponents to harm their principle/boss – even though that should go without saying for anyone who has even a slight bit of experience with politics in this state. Thusly, such actions can result in their separation. Politically speaking, going to a strip club in the upstate is probably only slightly less worse than marching in a pro-abortion rally in the eyes of Upstate conservatives. The fact that those young (I assume) men could not appreciate that speaks to their sense of judgment, their ability to “read the room.” That alone would make them not desirable as regional campaign directors, whether it was a strip club or something else as the offense.
LOL, this is hilarious. You mean the upstate conservatives, who come out in support of a man who has violated every one of the ten commandments many times over, without regret. The guy who has father 5 children with three wives and cheated repeatedly on every one of them. The guy who slept with a porn star and bragged about molesting women. The guy who sexually assaulted a woman in a dressing room, and went backstage at the Miss Teen USA pageant to watch teen girls getting dressed. The guy who partied with Epstein. Those upstate conservatives are going to care about someone going to a strip club? I guess, as we have seen a lot lately, Republican Family Values are a strange thing. What exactly do these upstate conservatives stand for?
Thomas… just admit it, you’re gay.
Squishy, just admit it, you’re a misogynist with a little pedophilia rolled in. You can’t imagine why a straight guy would not want to screw little girls, cheat on their wives, and molest women. But we are not all like you. Trump is your idol; your aspiration, not ours. As I said, Republican family values are a strange thing, and they are not for me.
Squishy, just admit it, you are a misogynist with a little pedophilia thrown in. You can’t imagine a straight guy not wanting to cheat on his wife, molest women, and fool around with a really young girl now and then. But not all of us are like you. Trump is your hero, your aspiration, not ours. As I said, Republican family values are a strange thing. Just like MAGA “Christians.” Both are oxymorons.
He was just looking at the polls!
Now THAT’S funny !!
So much for personal freedom and self-governance that he has plastered all over his campaign website.
All hat no cattle?
All hat no cattle?
I’ll donate to the Rom Reddy campaign if he’ll record himself singing:
We represent the Lollipop Guild
The Lollipop Guild, the Lollipop Guild
And in the name of the?Lollipop?Guild
We wish to?welcome you to Munchkin Land
Or if he would dress up like a tiny roman soldier and storm his own seawall, the proportions would be perfect like he was storming a castle