By Jessica Holdman
SCDailyGazette.com
U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, a longtime member of the ultra-conservative U.S. House Freedom Caucus, is entering the 2026 South Carolina governor’s race.
The eight-year congressman is running to “finally clean up Columbia,” the campaign said in a statement. He plans to advocate for improvements to the state’s roads and schools, as well as term limits for state legislators. All would require the Legislature’s approval. Previous proposals to get legislators to vote term limits on themselves have gone nowhere.
There was a formal launch event Sunday in his hometown of Rock Hill.
Norman is by far the wealthiest member of South Carolina’s congressional delegation, according to annual disclosures. Before running for office, he grew his father’s construction business, the Warren Norman Company, into one of the state’s most successful commercial real estate firms.
He has been weighing a bid for the Governor’s Mansion for some time, hinting at a potential run to reporters in October 2023.
Norman, 72, spent about a decade total in the state House before voters elected him in 2017 to represent South Carolina’s 5th Congressional District. Anchored in his home county of York, just south of Charlotte, it stretches from a chunk of Spartanburg County along the state’s border with North Carolina southeast to Sumter County.
First elected to the state House in 2004, Norman gave up the Rock Hill seat in 2006 for an unsuccessful bid to defeat U.S. Rep. John Spratt, a longtime Democrat. Voters returned Norman to the state House in a 2009 special election.
Eight years later, he won a special election to replace former U.S. Rep. Mick Mulvaney, who left Congress when President Donald Trump tapped him to lead the Office of Management and Budget in his first term. After emerging from a seven-way GOP primary, Norman defeated Democrat Archie Parnell, a former Goldman Sachs executive and tax lawyer, with 51% of the vote.
Norman has not faced a primary challenger since that special election.
But he joins a crowded field for the 2026 governor’s race. Republicans who have already announced bids over the last month are Attorney General Alan Wilson, state Sen. Josh Kimbrell of Spartanburg County, and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette.
Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina’s coastal 1st District also is considering a bid.
Norman, who’s built a reputation as a fiscal haw, has spent his political career on the fringes, even within his own party. In spring 2022, he helped launch the South Carolina affiliate of the Freedom Caucus in the state House.
In Congress, he sits on the House Budget, Financial Services and Rules Committees. He gained that third committee appointment after working to first block, then supporting, Kevin McCarthy as speaker in 2023.
During his time in the Statehouse, Norman was one of just two House members to vote against a $120 million incentive package for Boeing’s North Charleston expansion in 2013, arguing there was no accountability for how the money would be spent.
Most recently, he joined Freedom Caucus leaders threatening to oppose the massive tax cut and spending bill to fund President Donald Trump’s priorities.
“We need to ensure good policy isn’t poisoned by bad spending,” Norman wrote on social media. “Congress should prioritize fiscal responsibility, transparency, and results. NOT rushed deals.”
Norman also made headlines in 2018, when he pulled out his loaded .38-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun during a meeting with constituents in what he said showed that guns are dangerous only in the hands of criminals.
The demonstration brought criticism from even staunch Second Amendment enthusiasts. Despite calls for his resignation and prosecution, Attorney General Wilson declined to press charges.
And three days before former President Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021, Norman was in the national news for texting former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows calling for martial law to keep Trump in office. “Our LAST HOPE is invoking Marshall Law!!” it read. He also voted against both House attempts to impeach the president during his first term.
But unlike other candidates that have sought to align themselves with Trump, Norman’s relationship with the president has been checkered. Norman’s campaign told The Associated Press he won’t seek the president’s endorsement.
An ally of former Gov. Nikki Haley, Norman was among the few elected officials to back her successful 2010 run for the Governor’s Mansion. He also was the lone member of Congress to endorse Haley over Trump in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, appearing frequently with her on the campaign trail.
Only after Haley dropped out did Norman turn his support to Trump.
Haley backing Norman
The endorsements of Nikki Haley and former U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint were announced as Norman officially launched his campaign for governor Sunday in Rock Hill.
Meadows endorsed Norman at the event. Members of the state House Freedom Caucus also sent out a news release backing Norman, who helped launch South Carolina’s affiliate of the congressional caucus in spring 2022.
Jessica Holdman writes about the economy, workforce and higher education. Before joining the S.C. Daily Gazette, she was a business reporter for The Post and Courier. S.C. Daily Gazette is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
