Another GOP ‘outsider’ running for SC governor?

He put $50,000 of his own money into a campaign account for governor, has a live campaign website and sent out a statement Friday lauding himself as a “conservative outsider who is not beholden to anyone.”

But is he running? (And who is he?)

John Warren — founder and chief executive officer of Lima One Capital, a mortgage finance company in Greenville — is exploring a bid for the Republican nomination for governor, according to that statement.

Warren was not available to talk.

However, in his statement, Warren said, “We need to clean up Columbia and end the sickening culture of corruption that infects our state government. Political insiders and career politicians have handed the keys to our state over to the lobbyists and special interest groups and forgotten about the people I swore an oath to protect.”

Warren is a former U.S. Marine Corps captain who “led over 300 combat missions,” he said in the statement.

“(I)f I run for governor, my mission will be to clean up Columbia and end the big-government gravy train that has done nothing but line the pockets of political insiders at the expense of the people.”

If Warren enters the race, he would be the fifth candidate seeking the GOP nomination. The other Republican candidates are: S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster, Mount Pleasant attorney Catherine Templeton, Lt. Gov. Kevin Bryant of Anderson and former state Sen. Yancey McGill of Williamsburg.

Warren also would be the third campaigner from the Upstate. Along with Anderson’s Bryant, McMaster picked businesswoman Pamela Evette of Travelers Rest as his lieutenant governor running mate.

A political newcomer, Warren also would become another GOP candidate vying for the mantle of “conservative outsider,” something McMaster’s chief rival, Templeton, frequently claims on the campaign trail.

McMaster also is trying to capitalize on the outsider appeal of Evette, a political novice who connected with McMaster over their mutual support for President Donald Trump.

Whether Warren can mount a successful campaign will depend, in part, on whether he can raise money to be competitive in a race where the front-runners, McMaster and Templeton, already have raised more than $4 million combined.

This story was originally published December 1, 2017 at 3:00 PM with the headline "Another GOP ‘outsider’ running for SC governor?."