Charleston lawyer and Democrat Mullins McLeod has officially joined the 2026 race for the next South Carolina governor.
McLeod, an injury attorney at McLeod Law Group in the Lowcountry, made it official on Monday morning, launching a new YouTube account and website for his campaign.
In his announcement video, McLeod referred to the current state of the South Carolina government as corrupt, describing it as a cancer on the state government.
“The establishment in Columbia does not want us to know that they have sold us out in favor of their large corporate, for profit friends,” McLeod added.
McLeod continued to discuss examples of what he claims is corruption in the state government.
“Every election cycle, these large for profits spend millions and millions of dollars trying to influence us to vote for the politicians that they know will do their bidding and for their own financial desires at our expenses,” McLeod said.
He did not explicitly name any for profits nor politicians that he is referring to.
While McLeod did not indicate what plans he has if he becomes the next governor, he did discuss more issues he feels need resolution within the state.
Some of these issues include pay raises for South Carolina teachers and improving road conditions throughout the state.
He claimed that drivers in South Carolina remain stuck in traffic for more than an hour each day adding, “As recently as 2020, our roads were the worst, most dangerous in America.”
As of yet, McLeod is the only Democrat and non-politician who has stepped into the race for governor.
He joins Republicans Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, Attorney General Alan Wilson, Spartanburg Sen. Josh Kimbrell, Congressman Ralph Norman and Congresswoman Nancy Mace.
While McLeod is the sole Democrat so far, he does share a similar push for tax reform that all five Republican candidates have expressed in their campaigns as well.
Congressman Ralph Norman has described a desire to lower taxes and Lt. Gov. Evette, Attorney General Wilson, Sen. Kimbrell and Congresswoman Mace have all called for the state income tax to be cut to zero.
While McLeod did not specifically mention the state income tax in his speech, he did discuss the gas tax in South Carolina saying, “They raised the gas tax on us in 2012. They did it again in 2017,” adding that he believes promises to South Carolinians from the state government haven’t been kept.
McLeod also spoke more on state taxes in a broader spectrum, saying those alleged unkept promises are what he calls fraud.
“They have promised us every election cycle that they will take the tax burden off our backs, but yet they fail to do so,” McLeod said.
The South Carolina state income tax was once the highest in the country, but the new state budget passed on July 1 reduced that top marginal rate to 6%, making it equal to the state sales tax percentage as well.
Lawmakers did try to pass a bill to reduce the top rate even further, but were unable to before the session ended this year.
They plan to revisit the bill next year.
McLeod said that he knows what needs to be done to fix the so-called corruption in the state government, claiming his experience comes from his work in the private sector over the last 25 years.
“We know the cure,” he said referring to corruption, “It’s servant leadership and we can have servant leadership for free.”
McLeod first ran unsuccessfully for governor back in 2010, and has previously served as the chairman of the Charleston County Democratic Party for two terms.
The South Carolina Democratic Party is now suggesting that McLeod remove himself from the race, after body-cam footage of his arrest back in May was recently released.
“After reviewing the transcript of the dash cam footage from his recent arrest, it is clear that Mr. McLeod is navigating profound challenges and should focus on his mental and emotional well-being instead of a campaign for governor,” the SCDP Chair Christale Spain said in a statement on X on Aug. 13.
The statement comes not long after the dash cam footage was released through a Freedom of Information request, according to the Charleston Police Department, and was first reported on by the Post and Courier.
McLeod was arrested on May 15 near the Battery in Charleston, SC, for public disorderly conduct and was booked at the jail by Charleston Police officers.
He was reportedly wearing only his underwear and a pair of shoes.
The footage shows McLeod after he was placed into the back of a police cruiser, shouting expletives and insults at the officers and at one point even uses a racial slur.
McLeod also mentions his now Republican opponent running for governor, Attorney General Alan Wilson, saying “Alan f****** Wilson, I’m daring you right now,” claiming the Attorney General has failed to do “the people’s work.”
Another target of McLeod’s shouting was “Nancy,” assuming he is referring to Congresswoman Nancy Mace, who is another Republican running for Governor.
McLeod was released on a personal recognizance bond, according to jail records.
According to his campaign team, McLeod is set to hold a press conference to address these recent events, and he has made it clear that he is not backing out of the race.
McLeod says the arrest was unlawful and that portions of the dash-cam video were released to “damage” his recently launched campaign.
