Rom Reddy Slams Ralph Norman for Taxpayer-Funded Ads

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by WILL FOLKS

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Lowcountry businessman Rom Reddy isn’t willing to appear onstage alongside his fellow Republican candidates for governor of South Carolina, but that’s not stopping him from taking shots at them.

In a lengthy social media post published hours before the first 2026 GOP debate – which Reddy and lieutenant governor Pamela Evette are skipping – the diminutive multimillionaire from Isle of Palms, S.C. took aim at one of the four candidates who is appearing onstage.

Specifically, Reddy trained his fire on congressman Ralph Norman – who has drawn criticism for running campaign-style advertisements using federal tax dollars ahead of the upcoming GOP gubernatorial primary.

As we reported earlier this week, Norman is running taxpayer-funded ads touting his efforts to “clean up Washington, stop corruption, fight against pay raises for politicians, and push for term limits.”

These messages are very similar to messages contained in campaign advertisements Norman launched just last week.

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“This is ugly stuff,” Reddy wrote. “Always hidden. Full of talk. Actions don’t follow words about protecting citizens or the taxpayer.”

“Remember what our founders wanted,” Reddy added. “Elected officials who protect their God given rights, not trample on them.”

Reddy billed himself as “someone who cannot be bought, is not in the business of trading favors and has the courage to shed light on all of this darkness.”

Is that true, though?

Reddy has also drawn criticism for questionable campaign tactics. Specifically, he has faced scrutiny over his controversial decision to effectively absorb the DOGE SC movement he launched last year into his gubernatorial campaign.

DOGE SC supporters thought they were backing a muscular reform movement aimed at fundamentally reshaping the Palmetto State’s omnipotent legislative branch of government – a movement keen to replace status quo politicians with so-called “Palmetto Revolutionaries” eager to return money and power to the citizens.

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RELATED | ROM REDDY’S ROI

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DOGE SC was moving the needle in a big way in the S.C. General Assembly – advancing a significant judicial reform bill through the S.C. House of Representatives and preparing (it seemed) to make a huge impact on the 2026 legislative primary elections.

Then… it vanished. Or, more accurately, it was assimilated into a vanity campaign for an office that wields virtually no power in the Palmetto State.

Reddy has publicly insisted he only began seriously considering running for governor in mid-February of this year – although sources familiar with his pre-DOGE plans have told us he was eyeing the Palmetto State’s chief executive office as early as the fall of 2024.

With Reddy polling in fifth-place in the GOP field, it’s not surprising he is attacking Norman – who is currently polling in fourth place behind four-term attorney general Alan Wilson, first district congresswoman Nancy Mace and Evette. Just this week, we noted “the undercard battle between Norman and Reddy will be an interesting one to watch over the coming weeks.”

In fairness to Reddy, Norman left himself wide open to such an attack by using taxpayer funds in such an indefensible manner. In fairness to Norman, though, Reddy should have had the courage to “say it to his face” on the debate stage.

Keep it tuned to FITSNews as we keep close tabs on this escalating undercard battle… and all the political machinating ahead of the June 9, 2026 partisan primary election in South Carolina.

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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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