Candidates for South Carolina governor raise millions of dollars

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Before voters head to the ballot box, many are already voting with their money.

Each quarter, the candidates running for governor are required to publicly release campaign finance data. The reports show how much money the candidates have raised, the names of everyone who has donated to their cause, and how much money they’ve spent trying to earn your vote. This disclosure gives the public insight into how much support each candidate has.

Saturday was the deadline for candidates to submit their campaign finance data for the fourth quarter of 2025, which ran from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31. Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, Rep. Nancy Mace, Rep. Ralph Norman and Attorney General Alan Wilson all submitted their reports. State Senator Kimbrell has not yet submitted his reports.

Evette received the most contributions in the fourth quarter, generating nearly a million dollars.Mace raised the second-largest amount with about $571,000, followed by Wilson with $533,000 and Norman at $504,000.

Since the start of 2025, Evette has maintained a monetary lead over Mace and Norman. So far, Evette has taken in $2 million in cash contributions. Wilson follows Evette with $1.8 million in cash contributions. Mace is next with $1.6 million in cash contributions and Norman trails with $1.3 million.

The contribution numbers do not include in-kind contributions, personal contributions or loans that the candidates may have taken out. The numbers do include contributions that will need to be returned because they exceed the individual contribution limit; however, the returned amounts are not significant.

In terms of donors, Evette has received just under 1,500 individual contributions, while Norman and Wilson have each received around 1,000 since the start of 2025. Mace beat out all other candidates combined, with more than 42,000 individual contributions last year. Of those 42,000, roughly 39,000 came from out of state; however, the number of contributions that come from within South Carolina is still more than twice that of Evette’s individual contributions. Nearly 40,000 of Mace’s contributions are less than $50.

Mace slightly edged out Evette in spending during the fourth quarter. She spent $425,000 compared to Evette’s $387,000. However, Evette has outspent the others when looking at the entirety of the campaign so far, with more than $1.25 million spent in 2025. Mace spent $776,000, Wilson has spent $485,000 and Norman spent $410,000 over the same period of time.

Staying power is important over the course of a long campaign, and Norman is prepared to do just that with more than $1.8 million in the bank—the most of any candidate. To make up for lower fundraising numbers, Norman’s filings show he has taken out a million dollars in loans over the course of the campaign. Wilson’s war chest trails Norman’s at $1.3 million. Wilson has not reported any loans. Evette has $300,000 in loans and a war chest of $1.1 million. Meanwhile, Mace has not reported any loans and is sitting at $861,000 in her campaign account.

On the democratic side, there are two candidates currently campaigning. Mullins McLeod has not yet filed his fourth-quarter reports, but his third-quarter filings show a mostly self-funded effort. Of the $1.4 million he has raised, $1.35 million is personal contributions.

State Rep. Jermaine Johnson has only filed an initial report showing $2,811 in campaign contributions.

The primary for governor is June 9. Election day is Nov. 3.