Political ads · 2026 · SC

South Carolina House District 5 2026: the ads, and who's paying for them

Wes Climer won · 52.8% to 47.1% · Called by AP on Nov 3

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Wes Climer (Republican) and Mallory Dittmer (Democrat) are the nominees for South Carolina's 5th congressional district in the November 3, 2026 general election. By their latest FEC reports, Wes Climer's campaign had raised $1.1 million (through October 14, 2026) and Mallory Dittmer's campaign $227,000 (through October 14, 2026).

Wes Climer (REP), Mallory Dittmer (DEM). 3 others filed with the FEC; any ads they ran are below. 0 ads analyzed, 0 with at least one technique in the copy. Newest first. The paid-for-by line is the advertiser's own filing.

How to vote in South Carolina

From South Carolina's official election office. Each line links to the official page it came from.

Registration	Register by Sun, Oct 4 (Online/fax/email received by Oct 4; mail postmarked by Oct 5; most offices close 5 p.m. Oct 2 for in-person.) (passed)Source: scvotes.gov ↗Source: scvotes.gov ↗
Early voting in person	Mon, Oct 19 to Sat, Oct 31 (8:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m., Mon-Sat; closed Sunday Oct 25.) (passed)Source: scvotes.gov ↗
By mail	Mail voting needs a reason the state accepts (Qualifying reason needed, e.g. disability, age 65+, work obligations; early in-person voting open to all.); request a ballot by Fri, Oct 23 (Completed application received by county office by 5:00 p.m.); return it by Tue, Nov 3 (Received by county office by 7:00 p.m. Election Day; postmarks do not count.) (passed)Source: scvotes.gov ↗
Election Day	Tue, Nov 3. Polls: 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. (passed)Source: scvotes.gov ↗
ID at the polls	Current photo ID (SC driver's license/DMV ID, SC voter registration card with photo, federal military ID, or US passport); reasonable-impediment provisional ballot otherwise.Source: scvotes.gov ↗

Check your registration and polling place ↗ South Carolina's official election site ↗

Checked October 8, 2026. Rules can change; confirm with the official site before you go.

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Money in this race

From FEC filings for 2025–26. Outside spending is money a group spends on its own about a candidate — TV and online ads, mail, canvassing. It is not a donation to the campaign, and the candidate does not control it. Supporting means it was spent to help that candidate win; Opposing means it was spent to defeat them, usually on attack ads. Groups report it within 24 or 48 hours as the election nears. Raised is the campaign's own fundraising, as of its latest quarterly report. Largest donors come from each outside spender's own FEC receipts, with each donor's share of its itemized receipts; donors under $100,000 are not named. People are shown with the employer and occupation they reported. A donor that is itself a political committee is shown with its own largest donors. Companies and nonprofits don't report their funders to the FEC, so the trail ends there, and the page says so.

Wes Climer (REP)

Raised: $1.1M through 2026-10-14 individuals $766K · PACs $359K · candidate's own money, incl. loans $7,586 · cash on hand $269K
Outside spending: none reported

Bundled through PACs: none reported · FEC bulk data of 2026-11-01

59 PACs gave directly — alphabetical; the legal limit is $5,000 per election

ACA INTERNATIONAL PAC $5,000
AMERICA'S CREDIT UNION PAC $5,000
AMERICAN CRYSTAL SUGAR COMPANY PAC $10K
AMERICAN FINANCIAL SERVICES ASSOCIATION PAC $6,500
AMERICAN ISRAEL PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE PAC $5,000
AMERICAN PROPERTY CASUALTY INSURANCE ASSOCIATION PAC $2,500
AMERICAN REVIVAL PAC $10K
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ANESTHESIOLOGIST PAC $5,000
ASSOCIATED BUILDERS & GROWERS, INC. PAC $5,000
AT&T SOUTH CAROLINA PAC $500
BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD OF SOUTH CAROLINA FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS $10K
BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB COMPANY PAC $1,000
BUCKEYE LIBERTY PAC $10K
BUILD PAC $5,000
CCFI COMPANIES LLC (FKA CHECKSMART FINANCIAL LLC AND CCFI LLC) PAC $5,000
COMMITTEE FOR ADVANCEMENT OF COTTON $7,500
COUNCIL OF INSURANCE AGENTS& BROKERS PAC $5,000
CUMMINS INC. PAC (CIPAC) $1,000
ELECTING MAJORITY MAKING EFFECTIVE REPUBLICANS PAC $5,000
EMMER FOR CONGRESS $2,000
EYE OF THE TIGER PAC $5,000
FIRST SOLAR INC. PAC $1,000
FLUOR CORPORATION PAC $3,500
HEALTH & FITNESS ASSOCIATION PAC $1,500
IN THE ARENA PAC $5,000
INDEPENDENT INSURANCE AGENTS & BROKERS OF AMERICA INC. $5,000
INNOVATION PAC $10K
JIM JORDAN FOR CONGRESS $4,000
JOBS, ENERGY AND OUR FOUNDING FATHERS PAC $5,000
KOCH INDUSTRIES INC. PAC $5,000
LPL FINANCIAL LLC PAC (LPL PAC) $10K
MAYNARD NEXSEN PAC $5,000
MCGUIREWOODS FEDERAL PAC $1,000
MORTGAGE BANKER'S ASSOCIATION PAC $2,000
MR. SMITH PAC - MR. SOUTHERN MISSOURIAN IN THE HOUSE PAC $5,000
NATIONAL APARTMENT ASSOCIATION PAC $2,500
NATIONAL AUTOMOBILE DEALERS ASSOCIATION PAC $5,000
NELSON MULLINS RILEY & SCARBOROUGH PAC $2,500
ON WISCONSIN PAC, INC. $1,000
PURPOSE FINANCIAL INC. PAC $2,500
RALPH NORMAN FOR CONGRESS $2,000
RAPTOR PAC $5,000
REVENUE BASED FINANCE COALITION, INC. PAC $5,000
SC ASSOCIATION OF NURSE ANESTHETISTS PAC $500
SC BUILDERS PAC $500
SCALISE FOR CONGRESS $2,000
SECURITY FINANCE CORPORATION OF SPARTANBURG AND AFFILIATES PAC $1,000
SOUTH CAROLINA FARM BUREAU FEDERATION PAC $5,000
SOUTHEAST COTTON COMMITTEE $1,000
SOUTHERN CROWN PARTNERS' EMPLOYEES FEDERAL PAC $3,500
STAND FOR AMERICA PAC $10K
SUGAR CANE GROWERS COOPERATIVE OF FLORIDA PAC $500
TENET HEALTHCARE CORPORATION PAC $1,000
TEXTILE PAC $1,000
THE HOME DEPOT INC. PAC $2,500
THE TRAVELERS COMPANIES, INC. PAC $2,000
TRUCKING INDUSTRY NON-PARTISAN PAC $1,000
USA RICE FEDERATION PAC $1,000
WILLIAM TIMMONS FOR CONGRESS $4,000

All filings at the FEC ↗

Mallory Dittmer (DEM)

Raised: $227K through 2026-10-14 individuals $222K · PACs $1,100 · candidate's own money, incl. loans $1,209 · from the candidate's other committees $2,000 · cash on hand $80K
Outside spending: none reported

Bundled through PACs: none reported · FEC bulk data of 2026-11-01

1 PAC gave directly — alphabetical; the legal limit is $5,000 per election

CHEROKEE COUNTY DEMOCRATIC WOMEN $100

All filings at the FEC ↗

No campaign ads analyzed for this race yet.

What this page is

An ad is on this page because its own "Paid for by" line is a campaign in this race; or it comes from a national Senate group and ran mostly in SC; or it ran mostly in SC and names a candidate — unless its sponsor is a campaign for some other office. Ads from outside groups appear alongside the campaigns' own.
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 rhetorical 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. Running a check and seeing its verdicts are part of Semblen Pro, because each check costs money to run; anyone can see which claims an ad makes. 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.