The Palmetto Leadership Fund has $536,000 to spend on Senate Candidate Russell Fry over the next 8 days. Details on the Palmetto Leadership Fund are found below:
Palmetto Leadership Fund (FEC ID: C00956425) is a Super PAC (Independent Expenditure-Only Political Committee) that supports U.S. Rep. Russell Fry (R-SC-7) in the 2026 special election for the U.S. Senate seat in South Carolina (to succeed the late Lindsey Graham).
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Understanding the Role of the Palmetto Leadership Fund in South Carolina Politics
It registered with the FEC on July 15, 2026. Key details include:
- Treasurer: Donald Moore
- Mailing address: PO Box 30844, Bethesda, MD 20824
- Status: Unauthorized Super PAC (can raise and spend unlimited amounts independently of candidates, but cannot coordinate with them or donate directly to campaigns).
Early activity (as of late July 2026 filings)
- It raised roughly $536,000 in its first reported period (July 15–22, 2026), including about $500,000 transferred from Fry’s House campaign account and $36,000 in individual contributions.
- It reported spending approximately $368,660–$501,000+ on independent expenditures, primarily advertising supporting Fry (via Red Eagle Media). One early ad reportedly featured praise from President Trump.
It is one of several Super PACs active in the Republican primary for the SC Senate special election. Note that this is distinct from older or unrelated entities with similar names (such as the former Palmetto Leadership Council linked to past SC House Speaker Bobby Harrell, the nonprofit Palmetto Leadership Institute in Spartanburg, or educational programs like Palmetto LEAF).
For the latest filings, receipts, and disbursements, check the FEC committee page: fec.gov/data/committee/C00956425.
About Red Eagle Media – who is purchasing the ad buys
The two purchases may have looked coincidental; Red Eagle and AMAG appear at first glance to be separate firms. But each is closely connected to a major conservative media-consulting firm called National Media Research, Planning and Placement. In fact, the three outfits are so intertwined that both the NRA’s and the Trump campaign’s ad buys were authorized by the same person: National Media’s chief financial officer, Jon Ferrell.
“This is very strong evidence, if not proof, of illegal coordination,” said Larry Noble, a former general counsel for the Federal Election Commission. “This is the heat of the general election, and the same person is acting as an agent for the NRA and the Trump campaign.”
Reporting by The Trace shows that the NRA and the Trump campaign employed the same operation — at times, the exact same people — to craft and execute their advertising strategies for the 2016 presidential election. The investigation, which involved a review of more than 1,000 pages of Federal Communications Commission and Federal Election Commission documents, found multiple instances in which National Media, through its affiliates Red Eagle and AMAG, executed ad buys for Trump and the NRA that seemed coordinated to enhance each other.
Individuals working for National Media or its affiliated companies either signed or were named in FCC documents, demonstrating that they had knowledge of both the NRA and the Trump campaign’s advertising plans.
Experts say the arrangement appears to violate campaign finance laws.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a situation where illegal coordination seems more obvious,” said Ann Ravel, a former chair of the FEC who reviewed the records. “It is so blatant that it doesn’t even seem sloppy. Everyone involved probably just thinks there aren’t going to be any consequences.”
