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by WILL FOLKS
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With temperatures touching triple digits on a scorching summer day in South Carolina, congressman Ralph Norman turned up the heat on the Palmetto State’s status quo in announcing his 2026 gubernatorial candidacy. Norman, 72, drew a massive, overflow crowd to the Magnolia Room in Rock Hill on Sunday afternoon (July 27, 2025) – with nearly 700 supporters standing shoulder-to-shoulder inside the upscale wedding venue to hear him lay out his vision for the future of South Carolina.
As Norman’s crowd swelled, the interior of the venue soon became every bit as sweltering as the parking lot outside – with local fire marshals at one point reportedly barring late arrivals from entering the building, per Norman’s campaign staff.
The fourth announced candidate for governor of South Carolina, Norman is a wealthy real estate developer who entered politics two decades ago. After spending nine years in the S.C. House of Representatives, he won a special election to the U.S. Congress in 2017 – filling the fifth district seat vacated by former White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney.
He has served in Washington, D.C. ever since, earning a reputation as a maverick who routinely refuses to toe the party line.
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In launching his bid for governor, Norman made it clear he aligned himself with the S.C. Freedom Caucus, a group of conservative lawmakers who have emerged as an alternative to the increasingly left-leaning establishment wing of the “Republican Party” (and been targeted for defeat as a result).
“I especially want to give a shoutout to my Freedom Caucus friends,” Norman said. “That’s who we’re going to join forces with when we get the governor’s mansion. They fight for freedom.”
Norman also made it abundantly clear that state lawmakers who were insufficiently loyal to the conservative cause would face challengers in next June’s GOP primary elections.
“We will beat them in Republican primaries if that’s what it takes,” he said.
In addition to calling on term limits for members of the S.C. General Assembly, Norman said under his watch there would be “no more government contracts for legislators” and “no more legislators becoming lobbyists.”
He also took aim at the notoriously corrupt method of judicial selection in the Palmetto State – a method by which state lawmakers (led by a cabal of powerful lawyer-legislators) pick the judges they appear before.
“No more judges appointed by a bunch of liberal trial lawyers,” Norman said. “When I’m governor we’ll let the people vote on judges.”
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South Carolina is one of only two states in America in which lawmakers pick judges (Virginia is the other). By contrast, 21 states hold popular elections – including seven states which hold partisan elections. Another 26 states provide for some method of gubernatorial appointment of judges. However, a total of 37 states require popular elections for judges to keep their seats on the bench – including nineteen states which require “retention” elections.
In addition to drawing a bead on the state’s status quo, Norman also vowed to target South Carolina’s antiquated, distressed infrastructure – something which was addressed extensively in the most recent edition of our Week in Review.
“We will finally fix our crumbling roads and bridges,” Norman said.
In discussing the infrastructure issue, the congressman took a shot at lawmakers for the controversial pay raise they awarded to themselves earlier this year – a raise which has been temporarily blocked by the S.C. supreme court.
“Legislators couldn’t find money to fix our roads but they could fine money for an eighty percent pay raise.” he said.
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On education, Norman vowed tax money would “follow the child through school choice,” and in one of the biggest crowd-pleasing lines of the afternoon he insisted “boys will go to the boys bathroom and girls will go to the girls bathroom.”
On the issue of public safety, Norman signaled an aggressive posture – saying it was time to “take the handcuffs off police and put them back on criminals.”
He also promised to launch a “DOGE commission that roots out waste, fraud and abuse” and to target Chinese land ownership in the Palmetto State. If government can’t block Chinese land purchases, Norman vowed to regulate the land so “they can’t do anything with it.”
In making his case to GOP primary voters, Norman claimed he was the only “proven” conservative in the race.
“I am the only candidate with a proven conservative record,” he said. “I’ve walked the walk. (But) it’s not going to be easy. The establishment will come after me.”
Norman follows attorney general Alan Wilson, lieutenant governor Pamela Evette and state senator Josh Kimbrell in formally entering the GOP primary. U.S. congresswoman Nancy Mace is also expected to enter the race. On the Democrat side, state lawmaker Jermaine Johnson and trial lawyer Mullins McLeod are running.
Early polls show Wilson and Mace as the early frontrunners for the governor’s mansion, although Norman and Evette are within striking distance – and there are a great number of undecided voters at this early stage of the race.
Count on FITSNews to keep our audience apprised of the latest developments as we draw closer to the June 9, 2026 partisan primary elections.
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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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10 comments
I don’t believe he was a member of the Freedom Caucus while he was up in Washington. No more Rinos….
Thank You!
Ralph Norman has been a member of the Congressional Freedom Caucus for 8 years. He is currently Vice Chair of the Congressional Freedom Caucus. He has a 98% lifetime conservative voting record per CPAC. You seem to have him confused with someone else. Ralph Norman fights the RINOs. He is hated by the RINO establishment. He is the only Freedom Caucus member running for Governor. His voting record is far more conservative than Nancy Mace’s (apples to apples). While Sen. Kimbrell is a solid conservative, his record is only 85% (about 13 points less than Norman albeit not apples to apples as it’s federal vs. state). Evette seems like a nice lady, but has been part of the “do very little” McMaster Administration. We have on way to know how reliable she would be. And Alan Wilson has been solid as AG, but he is definitely part of the Establishment and he will not stand up to the RINOs in the legislature any more than McMaster has.
“When I’m governor we’ll let the people vote on judges.”
1. This will never happen because the legislature will not give up their power on this. This selection method is in the South Carolina Constitution and would require an amendment to change. Any amendment to the Constitution starts with the legislature.
2. This is a stupid idea. Judges should not be popularly elected. Look at the idiots that get elected for other positions.
So, you think those elected idiots choosing our judges somehow makes for a better situation? How so?
I do think our current system ensures a better cadre of judges. There is an intense screening process with regards to all aspects of their personal and professional life. SLED does an investigation. If someone has skeletons in their closet, they are found. Furthermore, each candidate has to go through multiple screening committees through the Bar and the legislature. Because each candidate only has to convince the members of the General Assembly to vote for them, money is not an issue. Judicial candidates are not soliciting donations from individuals or corporations who have an interest before the court. In popular elections, campaigning would be a race to the bottom. Whoever could appease the base would win instead of electing judges who might ensure that justice actually takes place. Sometimes judges have to make decisions that not popular but are right. Judging should not be a popularity contest.
Agreed. the fact that Norman said this either means he doesn’t even know what the law is on this, or he does, but says it anyway because he has contempt for the intelligence of the SC voter and thinks they will eat it up. Whenever any politician promises to do something that they ae legally powerless to achieve without changing the constitution, I am immediately suspect of them.
Here is what the public wants to know Norman:
1. Have you ever taken monies from counties, cities or the state for your personal development projects?
2. Have you ever asked someone else associated with government to provide funding for your development projects so you would not have to?
3. After years of public service in the SC House or DC, why have you not passed 1 bill?
4. Why do you associate yourself with the SC Freedom Caucus who has proven to care more about furthering their own political careers than governing?
5. Do you condemn the SC Freedom Caucus, Pace and Cromer, for protecting RJ May and stating he was an upstanding member during an investigation for CSAM?
6. Do you condemn Rep. April Cromer for her hypocrisy of hiring illegal aliens while condemning them publicly?
7. Did you really call Trump on January 6th and ask him to enforce Marshall law?
We are waiting on your response and evidence to back it up.
7. Do you support infrastructure building now even though you have voted against it every time? Did you vote against the 2017 roads and bridges bill? Why? What alternative did you propose?
Those are all RINO lies and misrepresentations. Ralph Norman has a 98% lifetime conservative voting record over 9 years in DC. Anyone that stays 98% conservative in the DC swamp is exactly who I want as Governor. He will govern like Trump and DeSantis. We will defeat you RINOs and get our Republican Party in SC back from your corrupt control.
Dear Conservative Tom,
We need real leadership like Carroll Campbell and Henry McMaster. Ralphie ain’t it. You even stated his voting record which is the easy part. Just say no, no, no. You don’t have to propose solutions, just say no. It’s pure cowardice. We need a leader with vision. The only vision in Norman’s head is his ego. Show the evidence of what he has accomplished- not votes. That’s easy. What has he accomplished? I’ll help- NOTHING!