Ralph Norman
RDefeatedIncumbentFEC H8SC05158
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Raised this cycle$83K
Cash on hand: $90K
All South Carolina races
2026 race
SC-05 — U.S. House
6 active candidates on file with the FEC. Incumbent: Ralph Norman.
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Democratic primary · Tuesday, June 9, 2026
Called by audit: web-verified
Mallory DittmerWon55.8%
- DAndrew CloughDefeated44.2%
Republican primary · Tuesday, June 9, 2026
Called by audit: web-verified
Wes ClimerWon
Currently held by
Ralph Norman (R) — not seeking re-election in 2026. They've publicly announced their retirement; their committee is still on the FEC's 2026 roster for routine compliance, but this is effectively an open seat.
Election day
135days
Tuesday, November 3, 2026
Make sure you can vote
Disclosed money in race
$1.0M
Candidate + outside spending. See finance breakdown below.
Incumbent
Currently in office
Challengers
Sorted by fundraising
Wes Climer
RChallengerFEC H6SC05202
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Raised this cycle$758K
Cash on hand: $520K
Mallory Dittmer
DChallengerFEC H6SC05228
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Raised this cycle$81K
Cash on hand: $46K
3 defeated candidates — show
Bill Bledsoe
RDefeatedChallengerFEC H6SC05210
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Raised this cycle$50K
Cash on hand: $8
Alex Harper
DDefeatedChallengerFEC H6SC05178
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Raised this cycle$23K
Cash on hand: $598
Andrew Clough
DDefeatedChallengerFEC H6SC05186
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Raised this cycle$7K
Cash on hand: $2K
Local signal
Early read on SC-05 — U.S. House
A directional read on where this seat is trending, from the signals we have so far. This is an early scaffold — more inputs light up as coverage and constituent activity accrue.
Coverage tone · the matchup
Recent news coverage of the nominees heading to the general election.
Wes Climermixed
0 pos1 neutral0 neg1 articles
Mallory Dittmerlimited coverage
No tracked coverage in the last 90 days yet.
A media signal, not a poll of the district.
Constituent stakes
No one here has staked a position on a tracked vote yet. As neighbors weigh in on /pressure campaigns, the district's lean will show up here.
Money in the race
Finance breakdown
Disclosed funding shaping this race — both the money candidates raise themselves and the outside spending dropped by independent groups. Issue-ad spending by 501(c)(4) groups is excluded; the FEC doesn't require disclosure of it. See the note below for details.
Total disclosed
$1.0M
Candidate fundraising + independent expenditures (FEC).
Candidate-direct (Schedule A)
$1.0M
Raised by candidate committees themselves.
Outside spending (Schedule E)
$0
No outside spending reported yet.
| Candidate | Raised directly | Outside for | Outside against | Net in corner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Wes Climer(R) | $758K | — | — | $758K |
Mallory Dittmer(D) | $81K | — | — | $81K |
4 defeated candidates — show finances
| Candidate | Raised directly | Outside for | Outside against | Net in corner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ralph Norman(R)incumbentdefeated | $83K | — | — | $83K |
Bill Bledsoe(R)defeated | $50K | — | — | $50K |
Alex Harper(D)defeated | $23K | — | — | $23K |
Andrew Clough(D)defeated | $7K | — | — | $7K |
Where the money comes from
In-state vs out-of-state
Share of each candidate's itemized individual contributions from donors inside SC versus the rest of the country. Excludes sub-$200 unitemized donations (no geography on file) and PAC money — see note below.
Wes Climer(R)73% in-state · $599K itemized
$439K in-state$161K out-of-state
What's counted, what isn't
Candidate-direct is each campaign's reported receipts on FEC Schedule A — individual contributions plus PAC contributions to the candidate's own committee — through the most recent filing.
Outside spending is independent expenditures on FEC Schedule E: money spent by PACs, super PACs, and party committees for or against a candidate, without legal coordination with the campaign. The committees listed under each candidate are the largest disclosed spenders on either side.
In-state vs out-of-state covers only itemized individual contributions — donations over $200, which are the only ones that carry a contributor address at the FEC. Sub-$200 unitemized donations (often a large share for grassroots campaigns) have no geography on file and are excluded, as is PAC money. So the percentages describe where a candidate's itemized individual money comes from, not where every dollar raised comes from.
Not counted: 501(c)(4) "social welfare" organizations run issue ads that frequently mention candidates by name but aren't classified as express advocacy under FEC rules — they file no Schedule E and don't appear in this breakdown. Press reporting on a race may cite figures that include this dark-money spending; ours doesn't.
Recent coverage
In the news
About this race page
Candidate roster is sourced from the FEC's active-candidate list for the 2026 cycle. Fundraising totals reflect committee filings through the last reporting period.
Alignment % compares the candidate's extracted policy positions against your quiz answers. Positions are pulled from the candidate's campaign issues page by AI; we save the source quote for each position so you can verify the extraction. Candidates without a campaign issues page show position data pending — we're working through the roster and re-checking stale extractions every 90 days.
News coverage is from the GDELT 2.0 global news feed, filtered to a curated list of national, political, and regional outlets.