About
Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) has served South Carolina’s 5th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives since June 2017. He was previously a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 2005–07 and 2009–17. In the private sector, he helped his father expand the family business into the Warren Norman Company, a commercial real estate development firm based in his hometown of Rock Hill, South Carolina.
As a congressman, Norman is a member of the far-right Freedom Caucus and spoke out against electing Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as the speaker of the House for the 118th session. Since taking office, he has also drawn criticism for a variety of inappropriate jokes and antics. In April 2018, Norman pulled out a loaded handgun at a constituent town hall meeting in South Carolina. That same year he also made light of the sexual assault allegation against Bret Kavanaugh during his Senate confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court by joking that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg —who still served on the bench at the time—had been molested by Abraham Lincoln.
After the 2020 presidential election, Norman adhered to the GOP playbook by casting doubt on the legitimacy of the process and subsequently downplaying the seriousness of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. He objected to certifying the Electoral College results and voted against both impeaching Trump for inciting the mob and establishing a special House committee to investigate the insurrection, among other measures.
January 6, 2021
- Just hours after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, Norman joined 146 other congressional Republicans in refusing to certify the 2020 Electoral College results.
- Norman voted against impeaching Trump for his role in inciting the mob that disrupted congressional certification of the presidential election, writing that “to impeach President Trump will do nothing but divide our nation even further.”
- He voted against establishing a House committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack, calling it a “a politically motivated exercise with a pre-determined outcome: to try and marginalize Trump’s future as a political force, and demonize anyone who supported Trump or his policies.”
- In May 2021, Norman claimed that the rioters who stormed Capitol were not necessarily linked to Trump in any way, stating, “I don’t know who did a poll to say that they were Trump supporters.”
- On the one-year anniversary of the insurrection, Norman released a statement complaining about media pundits “who have expressed continuous outrage over the Capitol Hill riot, but still can’t manage to utter ONE SYLLABLE in condemnation of the woke mobs who ravaged so many of our cities just a few months prior.”
The Big Lie
- Norman signed letters to Attorney General Bill Barr on Nov. 6 and Dec. 1, 2020 urging the Justice Department to investigate irregularities and accusations of fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
- On Dec. 10, 2020, Norman signed an amicus brief in a lawsuit filed by the state of Texas urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the results of the presidential election in four swing states: Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
- On Dec. 17, 2020, Norman co-signed a letter requesting that congressional leadership hold hearings to “probe all allegations of illegal conduct concerning the Nov. 3, 2020 elections” and “investigate systemic problems” with U.S. elections.
- Norman voted against certification of electors from Pennsylvania and Arizona, writing: “We’ve seen COVID used as an excuse to change mail-in balloting procedures, change signature verifications, change voting deadlines, change polling procedures, and other questionable practices, often WITHOUT approval of the state legislature.”
- Norman was among 34 Republican members of Congress who texted White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows about various schemes to overturn the election results—both before and after the events of Jan. 6, according to TPM. In one alarmed and alarming text, he strongly urged that Trump invoke martial law, writing: “Mark, in seeing what’s happening so quickly, and reading about the Dominion law suits [sic] attempting to stop any meaningful investigation we are at a point of � no return � in saving our Republic!! Our LAST HOPE is invoking Marshall [sic] Law!! PLEASE URGE TO PRESIDENT TO DO SO!!”
Post-2020 Election Subversion
- Norman introduced the Securing And Verifying Elections in America Act, which would greatly increase barriers to voting by requiring stringent proof of citizenship, cutting voters from rolls for various reasons, and making voting by mail more difficult.
Top contributors for the 2024 election cycle.
The organizations themselves did not donate, rather the money came from the organization's PAC, its individual members or employees or owners, and those individuals' immediate families.
| Organization Name | Total | PACs | Individuals |
|---|---|---|---|
| House Freedom Fund | $34,500.00 | $5,000.00 | $29,500.00 |
| ACA International | $10,000.00 | $10,000.00 | $0.00 |
| American Bankers Assn | $6,000.00 | $6,000.00 | $0.00 |
| Credit Union National Assn | $5,000.00 | $5,000.00 | $0.00 |
| Huck PAC | $5,000.00 | $5,000.00 | $0.00 |
| LPL Financial | $5,000.00 | $5,000.00 | $0.00 |
| Manufactured Housing Institute | $5,000.00 | $5,000.00 | $0.00 |
| National Assn of Insurance & Financial Advisors | $5,000.00 | $5,000.00 | $0.00 |
| National Auto Dealers Assn | $5,000.00 | $5,000.00 | $0.00 |
| Freedom First PAC (Meadows) | $4,000.00 | $4,000.00 | $0.00 |