Springboard to higher office? 6 state lawmakers campaigning for larger roles
The chambers inside the South Carolina State House in 2026 may provide lots of campaign fodder and not just from the all the state representatives who are up for re-election.
Now members of the General Assembly can’t openly campaign for votes while on the floor, but speeches they give and bills they propose might be motivated by the upcoming elections.
Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey acknowledged some quasi campaigning will probably take place. Four members of his chambers have launched bids for higher office.
“It’s going to happen, and sometimes we deal with those things privately with some conversations, and then sometimes you just have to have the debate and deal with it there. But if you’re a senator, you have the right to speak, and we’ll honor that to an extent,” Massey said. “Election years are always different anyway. Even when the Senate’s not up, it’s going to drive a lot of things in the House, and that affects us.”
Here are six lawmakers running for higher office in 2026.
Wes Climer
State Sen. Wes Climer, R-York, is running to succeed U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman in the 5th Congressional District, which is in the Charlotte-area. Norman is not running for another term in Congress and instead is running for governor.
Climer is the frontrunner to win the seat. He recently successfully sued to stop a lawmaker pay raise from going into effect, but in the process ended up reducing the pay of General Assembly members by $1,000 a month, which lawmakers received to help cover in-district expenses.
He was first elected to the state Senate in 2016. Climer is the chairman of the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee
Stephen Goldfinch
State. Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, R-Georgetown, is running to succeed Attorney General Alan Wilson, who is in his fourth term as the state’s top prosecutor. Wilson is not running for reelection and instead running for governor.
Goldfinch, a private attorney, also serves a Judge Advocate General officer in the Army National guard and has previous prosecutorial experience.
He was one of the Senate presenters who made the case for removing Treasurer Curtis Loftis from office over a $1.8 billion accounting error. Even though the state Senate voted to oust Loftis, the House is choosing not to move on the resolution.
Jermaine Johnson
State Rep. Jermaine Johnson, D-Richland, is making a bid to be the state’s next governor. He is trying to pull off feat last accomplished in 2006, be a Democrat to win a statewide election in South Carolina.
Johnson is a charismatic speaker with an ability to fire up a crowd. His remarks on the House floor have at times received a lot of attention online from outside of South Carolina. He sells property and casualty insurance for Goosehead Insurance and works at Midlands Technical College as an adjunct professor.
Johnson, who is in his third term in the state House, is a College of Charleston alum who played on the men’s basketball team.
Josh Kimbrell
State Sen. Josh Kimbrell, R-Spartanburg, who is in his second term in the state Senate, is running for governor. He is one of five Republican hopefuls seeking to be the state’s top executive.
His campaign, however, has not caught fire. The former radio show host is trailing in fundraising and publicly released polls, and is dealing with an ongoing lawsuit from an ex-business partner.
Mike Reichenbach
State Sen. Mike Reichenbach, R-Florence, the upper chamber’s only Black Republican, is Wilson’s lieutenant governor running mate.
He was first elected to the state Senate in a special election to complete Hugh Leatherman’s unfinished term. Reichenbach owns three car dealerships: two in Florence and one in Bluffton.
Reichenbach’s wealth allowed him to largely self-fund his 2022 campaign for state Senate where he succeeded the late Hugh Leatherman. Since being elected, he has been donating his lawmaker salary to charity.
Mark Smith
State Rep. Mark Smith, R-Berkeley, is looking to represent the 1st Congressional District, which covers the Lowcountry.
Smith is a funeral home director hoping to succeed U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, who is running for governor. He is one of nine people who have filed to raise money while campaigning for the seat, according to the Federal Elections Commission.
