South Carolina Governor 2026: the ads, and who's paying for them
Alan Wilson (Republican), Jermaine Johnson (Democrat), Walid Hakim (Green) and Michael Addison (United Citizens) are the candidates for governor of South Carolina in the November 3, 2026 general election. Semblen has analyzed 9 ads in this race; 5 used at least one manipulation technique, most often glittering generalities and transfer.
Alan Wilson (REP), Jermaine Johnson (DEM), Walid Hakim (GRE), Michael Addison (UCP).
On the ballot as listed by Ballotpedia. 9 ads analyzed, 5 with at least one technique in the copy.
Newest first. The paid-for-by line is the advertiser's own filing. Updated 2026-10-08.
A small box with these findings and the newest ads, updated as new ads are analyzed. Free for newsrooms, blogs and campaigns alike; it links back here.
Follow the South Carolina Governor race
An email when new ads come in from either side or the outside groups: the techniques, the words doing the work, and who paid. And each debate's analysis the morning after. One-click unsubscribe.
Semblen is free to read and has no ads. If this page was useful, you can support it.
Money in this race
Candidates for governor report their fundraising to South Carolina's state campaign-finance office, not the FEC. This page doesn't cover those reports yet, so it shows no money figures.
The ads
9 ads, newest first. Video transcripts are shown as the model read them, without caption cues like [music].
Showing the 1 ad paid for by Alan Wilson. Show all 9 ads
Check And Check
Paid for by Alan Wilsonvideo · 0:30from 2026-10-06
I'm Alan Wilson. As your attorney general, I took bold steps to fight crime. Now violent crimes are at a 30-year low.
I promised to fight fraud and corruption and recovered nearly $2 billion for South Carolina taxpayers. So you can count on it when I tell you as governor, I'll eliminate the state income tax, not cut it, eliminate it. As a soldier, I protected our country.
As governor, I'll protect your money and make South Carolina more affordable.
Loaded Language: The words 'fraud and corruption' are emotionally charged terms used to frame the speaker's record in a morally righteous light — for example: 'fight fraud and corruption'
Repetition: The word 'eliminate' is repeated deliberately within the same sentence for rhetorical emphasis, reinforcing the promise beyond what a single use would convey — for example: 'not cut it, eliminate it'
Transfer: The speaker invokes their military service to borrow the authority and moral legitimacy associated with soldiers and national defense, lending credibility to their political persona — for example: 'As a soldier, I protected our country'
Glittering Generalities: Vague, emotionally positive promises ('protect your money', 'more affordable') that sound appealing but lack any specific policy substance — for example: 'protect your money and make South Carolina more affordable'
Loaded Language
Repetition
Transfer
Glittering Generalities
Looks up the ad's factual claims in fact-checkers, primary sources and wire reporting. Takes up to a minute.
Watch on YouTube ↗Transcript above is auto-generated; the analysis is of the spoken words.
Follow the South Carolina Governor race
An email when new ads come in from either side or the outside groups: the techniques, the words doing the work, and who paid. And each debate's analysis the morning after. One-click unsubscribe.
An ad is on this page because its own "Paid for by" line is a campaign in this race; or it ran mostly in SC and names a nominee for governor — unless its sponsor is a campaign for some other office (a U.S. Senate or House campaign included), or it also names SC's Senate nominees, in which case it is on the Senate race's page. Ads from outside groups appear alongside the campaigns' own.
The candidates are the ones certified for the November ballot, from the source linked at the top. Governors are state offices, so there are no FEC filings behind this page: no money figures, and outside groups are placed on a side only when they are a campaign or a party committee.
Campaigns run one text as many separate ads. Identical text from the same sponsor is one card here, marked with its number of variants.
A technique is a specific manipulative move in the wording, found by our model and explained in one line. It is not a claim that the ad is false.
Claims are checked when a reader asks: press "Check this ad's claims" on a card. The check runs once and its result is shown to everyone afterwards. The ten ads with the most money behind them in each race are checked ahead of time.
Claim verdicts say what the cited sources say. A verdict that an ad is wrong or misleading is shown only when it cites an established fact-checker or an institutional record — Congress, a federal agency, a court — and its confidence is not low; a weaker one is not shown at all. Each verdict shows what it rests on and how confident it is. If we got one wrong, press Disagree: a verdict that readers dispute and no one defends comes down.
Video ads come from the campaigns' own YouTube channels; the transcript is analyzed. Meta ads are analyzed on their text; their video and images are not, yet.
Get notified as this improves — new detection models, the browser
extension, and new features. Occasional email, no spam.
Semblen LLC · 5900 Balcones Drive STE 100, Austin, TX 78731 · unsubscribe any time