Rom Reddy’s Costly Betrayal

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by WILL FOLKS

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This media outlet has already extensively covered Lowcountry multi-millionaire Rom Reddy‘s betrayal of the conservative cause in South Carolina – notably his abandonment of a robust reform movement aimed at reshaping the all-powerful legislative branch of government in exchange for a Quixotic candidacy for governor.

I’ve also extensively documented the fiscal folly of his ill-conceived campaign to control the Palmetto State’s constitutionally neutered executive branch of government – one of the weakest chief executive offices in the entire nation.

Even if Reddy had succeeded in his campaign for governor of South Carolina… he would have failed.

Even if he had won the GOP gubernatorial nomination outright, he would have been resigned to four years of tilting at windmills as opposed to potentially pulling the levers of legislative power.

“At the very moment Reddy was poised to exert potentially decisive influence over the Palmetto State’s legislative tyranny – he abandoned the field and launched a vanity campaign for an exceedingly weak constitutional office,” I noted months ago.

Well, Reddy’s vanity candidacy flopped… spectacularly.

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Despite some polls showing him with a potential path to victory, the diminutive Indian-Italian finished a distant fourth in yesterday’s GOP gubernatorial primary – drawing an anemic 14.1% of the vote.

Reddy’s disappointing finish was particularly painful for fifth district congressman Ralph Norman, a fiscal conservative and Freedom Caucus leader who finished third in the race with 17.1%.

Had Reddy not eaten into Norman’s share of the vote – and viciously attacked him via a deceptive media campaign orchestrated by his establishment Svengali, Wes Donehue – Norman would have likely qualified for the runoff election.

But that’s not the real damage Reddy did during this election cycle…

In addition to splitting the fiscal conservative, pro-reform vote in the governor’s race, Reddy’s abandonment of his once-formidable DOGE SC organization left numerous legislative wins on the table. As such, a golden opportunity to expand the ranks of pro-freedom, pro-free market leaders at the S.C. State House – which is currently controlled by trial lawyers – was squandered.

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While the S.C. Freedom Caucus successfully defended all of its seats in the S.C. House of Representatives – and appears to have even picked up a seat or two – this could have been an absolute wave election for the anti-establishment forces in Columbia, S.C. Had Reddy’s DOGE SC movement fulfilled its promise to recruit and fund credible challengers to vulnerable incumbents, Freedom Caucus members and like-minded candidates could have easily picked up a dozen seats.

Maybe more…

And had that happened, the face of the corrupt legislative state in South Carolina – led by Reddy’s close friend, House speaker Murrell Smith – would have been fundamentally and forever changed.

Instead, though, Reddy “absorbed” DOGE SC into his failed gubernatorial bid – leaving numerous challengers to uni-party lawmakers to wither on the vine.

“Reddy drew leaders of the South Carolina Freedom Caucus into his orbit by presenting himself as someone who believed in our principles and wanted to help us grow our numbers,” Freedom Caucus leader Joe White wrote last month. “He later aligned himself with members of the Columbia political establishment.”

He also spent like crazy (literally) to join that establishment…

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Through yesterday morning (June 9, 2026), Reddy spent a staggering $6.2 million on broadcast, cable, satellite and streaming advertisements in support of his governor’s race – far more than any other candidate. Most of that money was spent introducing Reddy as a candidate to voters – but a big chunk of it was spent slamming Norman.

Imagine if Reddy’s millions had been spent intelligently and strategically in support of his stated goal of returning “power and money back to the people?”

Like Reddy originally said he was going to do…

Hell, imagine if only half of it had been devoted to that goal? Or even a quarter of it?

Freedom Caucus leaders have privately told us of numerous S.C. House districts where Reddy promised to help conservative candidates but later “reneged to run for governor.” And that doesn’t even contemplate all the potentially credible challenges that were never explored when Reddy abruptly changed gears three months ago.

“You have no right to tell me what I do with my money,” Reddy barked at this author on social media on election day. “If you liked the mission so much, use your money and go for it.”

So… was Reddy’s grand deception all about his ego? Or was there something more nefarious at play?

Given how his Svengali Donehue was receiving tens of thousands of dollars from speaker Smith at the same time he was advising his short (and short-tempered) gubernatorial client, there’s no shortage of speculation as to what may have really motivated Reddy’s folly.

Whatever machinations may have been at play, this much is clear: Reddy is finished as a political candidate. More importantly, no one who truly believes in restoring power and freedom to the people of South Carolina will ever trust him again.

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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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