A Message From Bentley
To everyone who donated, volunteered, shared the campaign, offered advice, made introductions, or encouraged me to keep going, thank you.
We began with no campaign infrastructure, no PAC, no donor list, and no political machine. In roughly 24 hours, we assembled a campaign and committee team, appointed a treasurer, filed the necessary federal paperwork, built a complete website, established our priorities, began outreach, and created the systems needed to accept volunteers and financial support.
Within five days, we had completed nearly everything required to operate a serious federal campaign, including compliant campaign banking and fundraising systems. We received donations, gained volunteers and supporters, and reached political media covering the race.
What we could not do in those five days was raise the full, almost $11,000 Republican filing fee before the deadline. Because of that, my name will not appear on the primary ballot.
I am disappointed, but I am also incredibly proud of what we built and grateful to every person who helped make it possible.
This is not ending here.
I will continue working to promote excellence, opportunity, accountability, and meaningful growth for South Carolina and America. I do not yet know exactly what form that work will take, but I know the support we received and the people who came together deserve more than for this effort to simply disappear.
Thank you for believing in me and for showing what ordinary people can accomplish when they decide to act.
We missed the ballot, but we built something real. Now we move forward.
