Thomas Ravenel withdraws bid to be South Carolina governor

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – A former South Carolina treasurer and ‘Southern Charm’ star announced Tuesday he has decided to cancel his gubernatorial bid.

Thomas Ravenel said via X that he will not run for South Carolina’s governor position in 2026 but instead will focus on his family.

Ravenel announced his bid for the state’s top seat just a few days earlier on Feb. 6, saying, “…none of the lightweights currently in the race are going to stop me. I have a message that’s going to change not just South Carolina but the entire country.”

In a new series of posts on Feb. 8, he posted he was rethinking the run, claiming to be under ‘eminent attack’ by the media and other Republicans.

Filing for the South Carolina gubernatorial race opens next year, and other candidates have been tossing around the idea of running for the state’s top office.

U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, representing the First Congressional District, has been traveling around the state as she mulls her own GOP bid. Attorney General Alan Wilson and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette are likely contenders in the Republican primary.

Ravenel’s stint as state treasurer ended in 2007 after being indicted on federal cocaine charges. A judge ordered Ravenel to serve 10 months in prison after he pleaded guilty.

He ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate twice – first as a Republican in 2004 and then again in 2014 when he challenged Lindsey Graham as an Independent candidate.