Alliance for Lowcountry Balance spends more than $10,000 supporting five candidates ahead of June 9 primary
By Delayna Earley
The Island News
An outside political organization has spent more than $10,000 on digital advertising supporting candidates in five Beaufort County Council races, introducing a level of independent political spending that has sparked questions from candidates, elected officials and voters alike ahead of the June 9 Republican primary.
Alliance for Lowcountry Balance, a federally registered Super PAC formed in April, has purchased a series of Facebook and Instagram advertisements supporting Republican County Council candidates Thomas Grygowski, Joshua Hower, Paula Brown, Beth Gillespie and Tom Reitz while criticizing several of their opponents.
According to records available through Meta’s Ad Library, the organization has spent approximately $10,510 on political advertising, including roughly $8,492 during the week of May 23-29 alone. Individual advertisements reviewed by The Island News show spending estimates ranging from $1,000 to $1,500 per ad, with some generating between 100,000 and 175,000 impressions.
The organization has inserted itself into five of the county’s eight Republican County Council primaries.
The first round of advertisements largely focused on promoting the organization’s preferred candidates. After those ads stopped running, a second wave of advertisements began appearing May 28. While some of the newer ads continue to promote the candidates supported by the organization, others directly criticize opposing candidates ahead of the June 9 primary.
Advertisements reviewed by The Island News include attacks against District 5 candidate Mary Jeans Otto, District 8 candidate Kraig Gordon, District 11 candidate Elizabeth Galloway and District 9 incumbent Mark Lawson. Lawson has been a target of the organization’s advertising efforts since the campaign first appeared.
Public reaction to the advertisements has been overwhelmingly negative, with candidates, party leaders and residents repeatedly raising the same questions: Who is behind Alliance for Lowcountry Balance, and why is an outside organization spending thousands of dollars attempting to influence Beaufort County Council elections?
Despite weeks of advertising, more than $10,500 in reported spending and hundreds of thousands of impressions across Facebook and Instagram, the answer remains unclear.
What is Alliance for Lowcountry Balance?
Alliance for Lowcountry Balance was formed in April 2026 as an independent expenditure-only political committee, commonly known as a Super PAC. Federal law allows Super PACs to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money advocating for or against candidates, provided they do not coordinate directly with the candidates they support.
Federal Election Commission records list Dustin McIntyre as the organization’s treasurer. The filing uses a mailing address associated with a Staples location in Charleston and lists Chain Bank N.A. in McLean, Virginia, as the committee’s financial institution. McIntyre has served as treasurer for numerous political committees across the country.
According to the organization’s website, Alliance for Lowcountry Balance is “dedicated to thoughtful civic engagement, responsible growth, and a steady voice for the communities, traditions, and quality of life that make the Lowcountry unique.”
While Super PACs are required to file reports disclosing contributions and expenditures, those reports are not always immediately available to voters. Depending on how money reaches a committee, future filings may identify contributing organizations rather than the original individual donors.
For now, the identities of those funding the campaign remain unknown.
Candidates distance themselves
Despite benefiting from the advertising campaign, the candidates interviewed by The Island News uniformly denied any involvement with the organization.
“I have not solicited, I have not coordinated with, and I have not asked for support from any political action committees,” Hower said. “Really, this campaign is something that I’m running because I see problems in the county and I want to fix them.”
Hower said local elections should remain focused on community issues.
“As I’ve gone around and campaigned, local elections impact our roads, our communities and our residents,” Hower said. “People should really kind of keep their money out of things that are related to our communities and our neighborhoods.”
Grygowski said he first learned about the advertisements after receiving a text message from a friend.
“I have never met with these people. I’ve never talked to them. I can’t be bought by them. I’ve never accepted anything from them,” Grygowski said.
Grygowski described the situation as “a hot potato” that candidates had no control over but were nevertheless forced to address publicly.
Reitz likewise rejected any connection to the organization.
“This money, dark PAC, I know nothing about it,” Reitz said. “Just heard it at the eve of early voting. I think it’s a horrible, horrible thing to do to somebody.”
Reitz pointed to his voting record, noting that he has twice voted to uphold Beaufort County’s Cultural Protection Overlay and has consistently advocated for transparency in county government.
“My record stands for itself,” Reitz said. “It’s 100% recorded,” related to the proposed Pine Island development, a project some residents initially speculated could be connected to the advertisements.
Brown and Gillespie have also publicly distanced themselves from the organization. Both have said they had no involvement in the advertisements and were unaware the group was supporting their campaigns until after the ads began appearing.
Criticism from residents and party leaders
The controversy surrounding the advertisements has generated discussion both online and during public meetings.
At a recent Beaufort County Council meeting, resident Robert New criticized the organization’s involvement in local races.
“Its sole purpose is to influence our County Council elections,” New said during public comment. “This dark money is backing five candidates, including two incumbents. Maybe legal, maybe not. But in no world is it moral or ethical.”
Beaufort County Republican Party Chairman Kevin Hennelly also publicly questioned who is funding the effort and why outside money is being directed into local races.
“Beaufort County voters deserve transparency,” Hennelly wrote in an email to Republican Party members. “We must ask: Who are the donors behind this dark money? Why is outside money trying to buy influence in our local races?”
Questions about the group’s motives have only intensified as spending has increased in the days leading up to the primary.
While some residents have speculated about who may be behind the effort, no evidence has publicly emerged connecting the organization to any of the candidates it supports. The candidates interviewed by The Island News each said they had no prior knowledge of the advertisements and no involvement in their creation.
As voters head toward the June 9 primary, the candidates, the advertisements and the spending are all public. The identities of those funding Alliance for Lowcountry Balance, however, remain unknown.
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.