• Businessman Rom Reddy has joined the Republican primary race for South Carolina governor.
• Reddy positions himself as a political outsider, contrasting with what he calls the “ruling class.”
• His campaign priorities include eliminating the state income tax and increasing the governor’s executive authority.
• Reddy is self-funding his campaign and will not accept donations or seek endorsements.

Editor’s note: The Greenville News invited all current gubernatorial candidates to a sit-down interview on their campaigns and plans for the governor’s office.

Rom Reddy, founder of DOGE SC, became the latest Republican to join the governor’s race on March 16.

He said what sets him a part from other candidates is that he is not a part of the “ruling class,” a term he uses to describe political figures who have held power for many years. His competitors in the Republican primary race are U.S. Reps. Ralph Norman, District 5, and Nancy Mace, District 1, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, and State Sen. Josh Kimbrell, Spartanburg.

More: Norman says choice in education, infrastructure, spending cuts drive his bid for governor

More: Mace says ‘no one will work harder for South Carolina’ as she campaigns for governor

Reddy recently sat down with The Greenville News for a conversation on why he thinks he is the right candidate for office.

Who is Rom Reddy?

Rom Reddy is an Isle of Palms businessman who became a political figure in South Carolina after launching DOGE SC, a political action committee modeled after the federal government’s Department of Government Efficiency.

In his early career, Reddy worked for Exxon Chemical after graduating from the Wharton Business School. According to the candidate, he held several different positions within the company before becoming the general manager of a joint Exxon and Dow Chemical venture.

He said he ended up buying the Exxon facility in Summerville, South Carolina with a business partner — launching his start as an entrepreneur.

“After that I built businesses, sold businesses (and) started businesses,” Reddy said, noting that the companies he has built or restructured focus on manufacturing, artificial turf and packaging.

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Reddy’s career shifted to politics when he launched DOGE SC in 2025. According to Reddy, DOGE SC was in part born out of a property rights issue over the construction of a seawall on his Isle of Palms beachfront home. Reddy is involved in an ongoing legal dispute about the legality of a seawall he built on his property.

“It just kind of evolved from there,” Reddy said. “It just caught fire and kept growing and growing and growing.”

Making the decision to run for governor

Reddy said he was not planning on running for the governor’s office, but he felt compelled to enter the race after not seeing a candidate emerge that supported the DOGE SC agenda. According to DOGE SC’s website, the organization’s goal is to advance causes like eliminating the state’s income tax, reduce the number of state agencies, and remove the legislature’s ability to elect judges.

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“The last thing I want to do was be in political office,” Reddy said.

The Lowcountry businessman decided to enter the race on March 16, the start of the candidate filing period in South Carolina. He describes his opponents as part of a “ruling class” that has been in power for a long time, saying that he offers something “different” to South Carolinians.