Have you ever wondered what it actually takes to transition from a concerned resident to an official candidate on the ballot? In this episode of Simple Civics: Greenville County, Katy Smith and Nathaniel DeSantis lay out the complete roadmap for filing for public office in South Carolina ahead of the 2026 election cycle. Listeners will get a clear, step-by-step guide to the legal requirements, deadlines, and paperwork needed to officially throw their hat in the ring.
Transitioning from a passionate voter to a formal political candidate requires navigating strict filing windows, gathering the right campaign infrastructure, and managing crucial state ethics disclosures. Katy and Nathaniel demystify the exact documents required in Greenville County, including the surprising rules around who can actually drop off your forms at the elections office. They also highlight the essential preparation needed before you ever knock on a constituent's door, leaving you to wonder if your 30-second campaign pitch is truly ready for the public. Whether you plan to run for local office, aim for the county council, or just want to learn how to track the contested races on your local ballot, this discussion offers a fascinating look behind the campaign curtain.
Check out the show notes for direct links to voter registration resources and our essential archive of candidate how-to episodes. Be sure to subscribe and leave a review so you never miss our upcoming candidate interviews leading into the local election season!
Episode Resources:
Becoming a Candidate for Office
Katy Smith:
What does it take to put your name on the ballot as a candidate? We spend a lot of time on this show talking about how you as a resident can engage with your government. But sometimes the most direct way to serve is as an elected official.
With the 2026 election cycle about to begin, many of you might be wondering what it actually takes to transition from concerned citizen to formal candidate. I'm Katy Smith with Greater Good Greenville, and on this episode of Simple Civics: Greenville County, we lay out the complete roadmap for filing for office in South Carolina.
Joining me is our producer, Nathaniel DeSantis, and together we aim to demystify the process, including the three key documents you need to file. We'll cover the statement of candidacy, the filing fees, and the critical Statement of Economic Interests.
We'll point you to many previous episodes we've done that are a candidate's how-to manual. Even if you don't plan to run, this episode will give you insight into how a candidate becomes an elected official.
Nathaniel DeSantis:
Welcome back to Simple Civics: Greenville County. I'm Nathaniel DeSantis, the producer of the podcast, and we spend a lot of time on the podcast talking about how you as a resident can engage with government. But sometimes, the most direct way to serve is to actually put your name on the ballot.
With the 2026 election on the horizon, many of you might be wondering what it actually takes to transition from a concerned resident to a formal candidate. To help us navigate the paperwork and the process, which is honestly really pretty simple, I promise, we're joined by the regular host and civic expert, Katy Smith. Katy, great to have you on the other side of the mic.
Katy Smith:
Thanks so much, Nathaniel. We have done this every so often, and I always love these conversations because it makes me learn and get to convey information.
Honestly, any one of us who meets the very basic eligibility requirements can run for office. It shouldn't feel like a secret club. We feel like the more people understand how to file, the stronger our democracy becomes.
Eligibility and Residency Requirements
Nathaniel DeSantis:
I completely agree. Let's start with the basics. Let's say I've decided to run for a local office, like county council or a seat at the State House. Where is the starting line for me?
Katy Smith:
The very first step is you have to be eligible to run by being a qualified elector, meaning you're a registered voter. Check your status at scvotes.gov.
What this means is you are a U.S. citizen. You are at least 18 years of age, although a couple seats like state senate require for you to be 25 years of age. Critically, you have to be registered to vote in the specific district you want to represent—in other words, where you live.
The Filing Window and Deadlines
Nathaniel DeSantis:
I know that on the other side of it, when I'm going to vote, there's a 30-day registration deadline for me to vote in an election. Is that the same when I'm running for something? Now I want to file. Is there a deadline or something that I have to do in order to legally file my candidacy?
Katy Smith:
It could be a point of confusion, but there is not a waiting period where you have to have been registered a certain number of days to vote before you can file to run, which seems kind of strange.
I'd hope you have been a voter if you're deciding to run for an office, unless maybe you're a brand new 18-year-old who's getting right involved. But you do have to be a registered voter at the moment you file your paperwork. If you aren't registered by the time you walk into that elections office during the filing window in March, you can't file.
Nathaniel DeSantis:
Okay, and just to confirm, since this is coming on 2026, when is that specific filing window?
Katy Smith:
For partisan offices, which are many of our offices in Greenville County and in the state, the filing period opens on noon of March 16th of any given year, and it closes on March 30th of any given year or the 31st if that's a weekend.
If you're not on the rolls by then, you're out of luck for this cycle. This episode is posting right in the middle of that time period, so you still can run out and file to run if you're hearing this in that week before March 30th.
Nathaniel DeSantis:
You got a few days left.
Katy Smith:
Exactly.
Required Paperwork and Filing Procedures
Nathaniel DeSantis:
And if they are so inspired by us to go out and run, what is the physical process like? Where am I going? What am I bringing?
Katy Smith:
For most local and county-level offices, you are headed to the Greenville County Board of Voter Registration and Elections, which is, at the time of this recording, located at McAlister Square at 225 South Pleasantburg Drive.
When you go, you'll need three things. One is the Statement of Candidacy, which is a formal declaration form. You'll have to pay filing fees, which is usually around 1% to 2% of the office's annual salary.
Finally, you'll have a Statement of Economic Interests, which is filed electronically with the state ethics commission. That's a transparency document that shows where your income comes from so voters can spot any potential conflicts of interest.
Some of these you're filing with the election commission directly, but two quick notes. One is that you personally, if you are the candidate, don't have to file. You can send someone in your place. Someone can come with a notarized statement and do it for you.
Nathaniel DeSantis:
But you have to have it notarized.
Katy Smith:
Yes. If you think about it, is Lindsey Graham walking it in? Maybe he is. People filed to run for president and they have to fill out a form just like this. I don't know if Trump and Biden and Kamala Harris will be coming around.
Nathaniel DeSantis:
It's kind of funny imagining them having to go do that.
Katy Smith:
Well, they go and vote in person, so I suppose they might walk their form in themselves. But someone can do it in your place.
When you are running for a partisan office, you should be checking with the party in whose primary you are running because sometimes they have rules and regulations that you need to check in on.
In Greenville County, our county council seats are all partisan. You can file to run as a Republican, a Democrat, Green Party, whatever it may be. But our school board elections are, as of the time of this recording, nonpartisan.
You're not being a part of this primary that we're talking about right now for which you have to file from March 16th through March 30th. You're going to be filing later in the summer if that's the case for you.
Very often there is a bill filed that wants to make school board elections partisan. That is actually, as of the time of this recording, true; there is a bill filed to make Greenville County school board races partisan. Only two school districts have partisan races in South Carolina.
Most are nonpartisan because people feel like education shouldn't be connected to party. We did an episode a long time ago about school board races. We can find that deep in the archive and link that here.
Nathaniel DeSantis:
We can, we'll do that. One point of clarification that listeners might be wondering: you mentioned that there is a Statement of Economic Interests that is electronically filed with the state. Are you filing that electronically, or when I go to Greenville County Board of Voter Registration and Elections, do they file it on my behalf?
Katy Smith:
You are filing that yourself. It's something you have to do. It's on the checklist, but it's a separate process from this.
Last year we did an episode on financial disclosures with Leigh McGill, and we can link that too. That is a place that candidates can very easily get tripped up, especially for these local offices.
This is very high-level detail for you listeners. We don't want you to get in trouble if you're only listening to our words and you're ready to go run for county council. We'll put a couple of links in the show notes that can help point you in the right direction, but do your own careful research and talk to smart people who can help you.
Preparing to Serve and Understanding the Role
Nathaniel DeSantis:
Okay. So I've done my research. I've talked to smart people who can help me. I filed. I'm registered. The paperwork is in.
But as we heard on an episode we did called Resolve to Get Involved—which was a series that we did very early on in Simple Civics: Greenville County—just being on the ballot is not enough. What's your first piece of advice for a new candidate?
Katy Smith:
Do not wait until you're elected to learn how this body you're running for functions. If you are running for county council, you should be at every meeting and work session for the six months or so before you file.
Read the budget. Learn how it works. Listen to lots of Simple Civics: Greenville County episodes. Get very familiar with what you are getting ready to do—not just the content of it, but the nature of the work.
I want to say, it is a little disappointing to me when we reach out to candidates to come on—because we interview all candidates who are willing to join us—and they tell me they are really too busy to do this. Hardly anybody does that, but occasionally it has happened.
I get it. No one has to come on this podcast. But you're about to get super, super busy if you win this race. Running for office is busy, but the job is busy. Get really familiar with what it is you're getting ready to do.
Nathaniel DeSantis:
I'll also add that some people might say they don't have the time to attend these meetings. First of all, I don't know if you should run because you're going to have to go to them and run the meetings. But if you can't, they are online. You can watch them.
Katy Smith:
That is very true.
Nathaniel DeSantis:
I think getting FaceTime is more important, but just understanding it and watching it is helpful. We did an episode with newly elected officials, and they came on and talked about what it was like once they won for the first time. Give a listen to that episode too, because that was really enlightening.
Katy Smith:
I think that's a really great point. The meetings are live-streamed for these bodies so you can watch in real time. You can watch old recordings of them on these different city council, county council, and school board websites. But being there in real life gets you the real feel of what to expect.
Building a Campaign Infrastructure
Nathaniel DeSantis:
Yes. And then we've also talked about the infrastructure of a campaign. Who do I need in my corner?
Katy Smith:
You can try to do it by yourself, for sure. But the bigger the geographic footprint you're running for, it really helps to have a kitchen cabinet of sorts.
A treasurer to handle those quarterly ethics reports is very helpful because, as you'll hear in the episode about ethics filing, you're going to have to report every dollar you spend once you hit $500. $500 can be spent in a minute running for any office with postcards and yard signs.
You will probably want a campaign manager to keep you on a schedule of knocking on doors, who you're meeting with, and meet-and-greets you're going to. This can be a friend or a family member, but just someone other than you and your busy brain to help you keep straight on things.
Nathaniel DeSantis:
If you don't have those people in your corner, that is the role you take on: the person running for office, the treasurer, and the campaign manager all in one, which is a little bit daunting.
Katy, you mentioned a campaign manager to help with your schedule and making sure you're knocking on doors. Is that still the gold standard in the age of AI, social media, and the internet?
Katy Smith:
It really is. Voters want to see you. You can imagine probably a lot of you have never met the person who represents you, even for a very local office. It makes a difference when someone comes and knocks on your door and says, "Hi, what are you worried about? Here's what I'm interested in."
You can use much more advanced tools. A county council member can get a digital map of high-propensity voters—those people that never miss a primary—to go and interact particularly with them.
You need to craft your message. Have your one-sentence "why" you're running ready, because if you can't explain why you're running in the time it takes for someone to open their front door, that's a little bit concerning. Have your messaging ready for your print materials. You should have a website. You should have a Facebook page.
Nathaniel DeSantis:
Door hangers.
Katy Smith:
Door hangers. The ways that people can know who you are and remember you when they're going to vote.
I've worked for a lot of different campaigns, and a lot of times when people answer the doors, first they'd be a little bit annoyed—which, get used to that. But then after they would be annoyed, they would be like, "Okay, you have 30 seconds to tell me about it and then I'm going back to live my life."
When you say have your one sentence ready, seriously, have that ready because people will give you a 30-second deadline and they'll close that door right on you. Get your message out in 30 seconds and then have a door hanger to hand them that has the rest of the big message on it.
Monitoring Candidate Filings
Katy Smith:
Not all of our listeners are running, but there are a lot of listeners who want to know who is running. How can they look up who has actually filed? Is there a central hub where they can see all this?
Katy Smith:
Yes, there is. This is exactly what we will be doing the minute filing closes. We will be bringing you an episode next week—though you might be listening to this well after this time period.
Around March 31st, we'll let you know who we see on this list. You can go to the State Election Commission's website, scvotes.gov, and there's a candidate tracking tool. You can search by election date and office and see a live updated list of every person who has officially turned in their paperwork.
It'll show you their name, what office they're seeking, and what party they're running with. It's the best way to keep tabs of what local races are contested and what seats are open.
There are a lot of people who are contemplating running that monitor that super closely. We have heard stories that some people just hang out at 11 a.m. on the day filing closes to say, "Okay, is there anyone better planning to run? If not, then I'll throw my hat in the ring at 11:58 a.m." It's a very interesting way to see what's getting ready to happen.
Advice for Prospective Candidates
Nathaniel DeSantis:
That's so interesting to me. All right. Well, if someone feels that urge to run in 2026 because of us, what should they do right now?
Katy Smith:
Well, if you really have not done any thinking about this until now, and we've so inspired you with one week or so left for filing for the 2026 partisan primaries, go to scvotes.gov.
Make sure your registration is current. Look at the candidate information section for specific qualifications. Connect with the party that you're planning to run for. Go deep in the archives of whatever that seat is you're looking for. Look at their meetings and get familiar.
What I would most urge you to do is to get connected to a candidate who supports the things that you support and really help them out as they run to be your voice in that office, and get yourself ready for the next time available to run.
Nathaniel DeSantis:
All right. Well, there you have it. I think that's the end of the episode. Any closing thoughts?
Katy Smith:
This is our most favorite season. I love this election season because I am just so moved by every person who raises their hand to serve their community.
We love bringing them in for candidate interviews, which we will be doing this spring until early voting opens so that you can get to meet them. It just means so much. Thank you for listening and staying plugged in. And thanks for getting ready to take part in the 2026 election season.
Credits
Simple Civics: Greenville County is Produced by Podcast Studio X.
A Greater Good Greenville project.
