The following is a preview of Daily Signal Politics Editor Bradley Devlin’s interview with Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., on “The Signal Sitdown.” The full interview premieres on The Daily Signal’s YouTube page at 6:30 a.m. Eastern on Nov. 27.

The 2026 midterms are shaping up to be one of the most consequential midterm elections in modern American history.

In November 2024, the American people gave Republicans the trifecta—the White House, the Senate, and the House, a mandate victory that some conservatives did not think possible. Democrats were already expected to have the advantage heading into the 2026 midterms, but impressive Democrat wins in off-year elections just one year after their thorough electoral embarrassment has cemented the idea that Democrats are poised to make a comeback.

As Republicans look to break a blue wave before it crests, Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., joins “The Signal Sitdown” to discuss the 2026 midterm elections and his bid to become the next governor of South Carolina.

Norman is looking to leave Washington and head back to South Carolina because “Congress is irredeemable.” 

“I’m so tired of hearing Republicans campaign on conservatism—less government, less taxes, less regulations—then vote totally opposite because they’re part of the deep state,” the South Carolina congressman told The Daily Signal.

Norman is one of more than three dozen members of the House who have announced runs for another public office or will not be seeking reelection. Of those 39 incumbents, nearly two dozen are Republicans. Nevertheless, while fewer Democrats are looking to leave the House, a majority of those Democrats, nine in total, are retiring. Only five House Republicans have announced they are retiring, while 18 are seeking a different elected office.

“Instead of being 1 of 435, I can be the spokesman, the CEO of South Carolina, and recruit good people to run against these turncoats who get elected under conservatism and then completely forget the Republican creed,” Norman said as for his motivations to leave the House. Those who get elected on conservative values but check them at the doors of the House floor “forget where they come from.”

Norman decided to run for governor of the Palmetto State because he saw the same thing he had observed in Washington happening in that race. “There were no conservatives running for governor of South Carolina. There just aren’t,” Norman said.

If he were to become governor, Norman said his “role is to put our state back on a firm financial footing and to recruit people who are true conservatives and who will do what they say.”

“To change the system, you can’t be part of the system,” Norman said, comparing himself to the other Republicans promising change. “I don’t owe anything to the elite powers that be.”

“It is not time for milquetoast, lukewarm candidates. This country has got severe challenges,” Norman continued. “The Democrat Party is openly supporting a Marxist, socialist, as President [Donald] Trump says, a communist form of government.”

“We got a fight on our hands,” Norman said, and that fight will be over contrasting visions on how to address America’s continued affordability crisis.

Norman believes that the “top concern is the affordability crisis in healthcare and in housing,” when it comes to any candidate looking to win an election in 2026.

“So goes housing, so goes the economy,” Norman said. “Every young person ought to be able to afford a house,” but onerous regulations impose high costs that are crowding young families out of the housing market—not to mention the multinational corporations who have recently entered the residential property market.

As for health care, “Obamacare has been an abomination,” Norman said. It’s been the unaffordable healthcare act. For Norman and other Republicans, “presenting a plan that’s centered on the patient … that gets insurance companies out of it,” and that provides quality health care at an affordable price is essential to electoral success.

“If we match our campaign rhetoric with good legislation [and] we come up with commonsense plans,” then Republicans still have a chance at victory come 2026.

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