Former treasurer, reality TV star announces run for SC governor

COLUMBIA — South Carolina has its first official candidate for governor. And the name should be familiar to many in the Palmetto State and beyond.

Thomas Ravenel, a former reality TV star and state treasurer who quit following a federal cocaine indictment, announced his 2026 bid on X late Thursday.

“I’m running for Governor of South Carolina and none of the lightweights currently in the race are going to stop me,” he wrote in the post sent out at 11:02 p.m. “I have a message that’s going to change not just South Carolina but the entire country.”

Ravenel told the SC Daily Gazette on Friday that includes improving education by advocating for the elimination of the U.S. Department of Education — something President Donald Trump says he wants to do, though he can’t do it without Congress’ approval — and, in South Carolina, enacting a broad K-12 private school voucher program.

“We have to look at our children to preserve our future and it starts with how we educate them,” said the Aiken County father of three children, ages 4 1/2, 9 and 10.

“When you get a food stamp, you don’t have to go to a government-run grocery store based on where you live. If you’re a vet, you can go get a voucher. It’s called a GI Bill. You don’t have to go to a government-run college based on where you live. It’s nothing but a voucher,” he said. “Why can’t we have more choice in our education?”

He faulted Gov. Henry McMaster for South Carolina not already providing state aid for private K-12 tuition, without recognizing the state Supreme Court partially threw out a 2023 school choice law, which McMaster signed, as unconstitutional. A bill to reinstate and expand the state aid for private tuition cleared the Senate this week. South Carolina’s governor cannot unilaterally create laws.

Ravenel, a developer, said he will be self-financing his campaign. And the 62-year-old touted that he’s not a lifetime politician. Career politicians are the problem, he said.

“These people want to maintain the status quo,” he said. “So, you have to go to the people and say, ‘We need to change our government.’”

He repeated criticism of South Carolina’s all-Republican leadership, as he teased in a post last week.

“We’re one of the least competitive states in the southeast based on our extremely high counterproductive income tax rates,” he posted Feb. 1. “Also, we tax cars and boats and boat motors and the costs to extract these taxes barely cover the revenue received.”

He concluded the post by saying, “Poor leadership!!!”

Property taxes are levied and collected by counties, not the state, to fund local government services and public schools. Last year, county officials opposed legislation designed to simplify taxes for boat owners. It failed without ever getting a vote on the floor.

And while South Carolina’s top marginal rate of 6.2% remains the highest in the Southeast, the average effective tax rate — what tax filers actually pay after deductions and exemptions — was among the nation’s lowest (for states with an income tax) even before a 2022 state law collectively cut taxes by $1 billion. That law is set to be fully phased in next January, a year ahead of schedule.

Ravenel contends income taxes should be eliminated, potentially by increasing others.

Last fiscal year, income tax collections totaled $6.1 billion, accounting for nearly 45% of the state’s general fund revenues, according to the state Board of Economic Advisors.

“There’s all these other taxes you could employ. Don’t come after income,” he said Friday. “That disincentivizes your work and wealth creation.”

Ravenel is the son of the late state senator and congressman Arthur Ravenel Jr., namesake of the bridge connecting the Charleston peninsula to Mount Pleasant. Arthur Ravenel, affectionately known as “Cousin Arthur,” died in 2023 at age 95. His last elected position was on the Charleston County School Board in his 80s.

Thomas Ravenel lost his first bid for office in 2004, when he came in third in a six-way GOP primary race for U.S. Senate (ultimately won by former Sen. Jim DeMint).

Two years later, he was seen as a rising Republican star and ousted longtime Democratic state Treasurer Grady Patterson in November 2006.

But his star came crashing down in July 2007, when he resigned amid a federal cocaine charge and pleaded guilty to possession two months later. He completed a 10-month prison sentence in March 2009.

On Friday, Ravenel blamed his prosecution on people wanting to prevent him from seeking higher office. He said he doesn’t intend to talk about his conviction on the campaign trail but will defend himself.

He was charged in 2007 with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute less than 500 grams of cocaine. At the time, prosecutors accused the then-44-year-old of sharing cocaine with his friends in Charleston, not selling the drug. His convicted supplier also served a 10-month sentence. A third person charged in the case, Pasquale Pellicoro, fled back to Italy and stayed on the run in Europe for several years before being extradited and sentenced in 2011.

Nancy Mace yet to announce bid for SC governor, but jabs at potential opponents

Ravenel stressed to the Gazette that he did not distribute cocaine.

“If you buy a six pack of beer and share it, are you a beer distributor?” he asked.

Ravenel was also on the first five seasons of the Bravo network reality TV show “Southern Charm” from 2014 to 2018. He left the show after the fifth season but made a surprise appearance in the premiere of the seventh season.

In 2018, he was accused of sexual assault. He pleaded guilty in 2019 to third-degree assault and battery and paid a $500 fine in place of a 30-day sentence, The State reported.

This isn’t Ravenel’s first attempt at a return to politics.

In 2014, he announced a challenge to U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham after the Republican incumbent easily beat six GOP primary opponents. Ravenel got on the November ballot as a petition candidate after collecting the necessary minimum of 10,000 signatures from registered voters.

But he ultimately placed a distant third, with less than 4% of the vote.

While no one else has announced a run to replace Gov. Henry McMaster, who can’t seek a third full term, the unofficial race was well underway.

U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace is traveling the state as she’s contemplating a run at the Governor’s Mansion, already bashing Attorney General Alan Wilson and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, who are expected to run.