Draft:David Wesley

David Wesley "Wes" Climer (born September 26, 1982) is an American politician and financial advisor. Since 2016, Climer has represented the 15th District (York County) in the South Carolina Senate, where he chairs the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. He is a member of the Republican Party.^[1] He is a Vice President and Financial Advisor at Climer Wealth Management Group, affiliated with LPL Financial.^[2] In 2025, Climer announced his candidacy for South Carolina's 5th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives.^[3]

Early life and education

David Climer was born on September 26, 1982, in Charlotte, North Carolina. He grew up in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and attended Furman University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science.^[4]

Career

Financial services and congressional staff work

Climer began his career as a congressional staffer in Washington, D.C. He subsequently entered the financial services industry, beginning as a financial advisor with Merrill Lynch before joining Wells Fargo Advisors in 2013. In September 2023, Climer moved his practice to LPL Financial's employee advisor channel, Linsco, operating as Climer Wealth Management Group.^[2][5] He serves as Vice President and Financial Advisor, focusing on comprehensive financial planning and investment management, and holds Series 7 and Series 66 securities licenses as well as an insurance license with LPL Financial.^[4]

South Carolina Senate

Election

Climer was first elected to the South Carolina Senate in 2016, defeating Republican incumbent Robert W. Hayes Jr. in the Republican primary by approximately four percentage points. Hayes had represented the 15th District since 1991.^[6] He was re-elected in 2020 and 2024.

Climer chairs the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee and has served on the Finance, Labor Commerce and Industry, Family and Veterans' Services, Legislative Oversight, and Transportation committees.^[1]

Legislative record

Budget earmark transparency

Climer has been a persistent critic of the practice of inserting undisclosed legislative earmarks — appropriations directed to favored projects or recipients — into South Carolina's state budget without public disclosure or deliberation. Prior to 2021, earmarks in the South Carolina budget were generally hidden from most legislators until after the budget had passed, unless recipients themselves publicized them.^[7]

Working with Democratic Senator Dick Harpootlian, Governor Henry McMaster, and with sustained editorial support from the Post and Courier, Climer led efforts in the Senate to require pre-passage disclosure of earmark recipients. The Post and Courier credited Climer, Harpootlian, and McMaster with pulling these expenditures out of the shadows.^[7][8] During the 2021 state budget debate, Climer challenged the House over a $2 million line item labeled "sports marketing," which he alleged continued to serve as a vehicle for undisclosed pet projects.^[9]

Legislators' compensation disclosure

Building on his earmark work, Climer has also pursued greater transparency around compensation that individual legislators receive from state-funded sources outside their legislative salaries. During the 2026 budget debate, Climer initially proposed an outright ban on legislators accepting any state-funded payments beyond their legislative pay, but modified the proposal after colleagues objected that many held outside positions — such as running nonprofit organizations funded in part by state grants — that would be disrupted by an absolute prohibition.^[10]

The revised measure, which the Senate adopted 32–9 as a budget proviso, would require legislators to obtain prior approval from a legislative ethics committee before accepting any state funds outside their legislative salaries. Climer argued that the existing requirement to file annual Statements of Economic Interest is inadequate because the level of detail varies among members and no systematic review is conducted to verify compliance with ethics requirements. "The 170 people who serve in the Legislature owe a duty of care to the people of this state that all effort be made to avoid impropriety and conflicts of interest in the choices that get made about the people's money," Climer said, adding that the provision would help voters see whether legislators personally benefited from the budgets they approve.^[10][11]

Legislative pay raise lawsuit

In June 2025, Climer filed a petition with the South Carolina Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of a pay raise the General Assembly had inserted into the state budget. The measure increased legislators' "in-district compensation" from $1,000 to $2,500 per month — approximately an 80 percent increase — effective immediately, without an intervening election as Climer argued the South Carolina Constitution requires. Climer, who was among 44 Republican legislators who declined to accept the additional funds, was joined in the suit by a private citizen constituent, York County resident Carol Herring.^[12][13] Climer was represented by former South Carolina Senator Dick Harpootlian.^[13]

The Court's intervention paused all in-district compensation payments while the case was under review, resulting in an effective pay cut of $1,000 per month for all legislators beginning July 1, 2025. In a unanimous ruling issued November 12, 2025, the Court struck down the raise as unconstitutional, holding that in-district compensation constitutes "salary" that cannot be increased for sitting members before an intervening election. The ruling also inadvertently eliminated legislators' existing $1,000 monthly in-district compensation until the General Assembly enacted a new lawful appropriation.^[14]

Certificate of Need repeal

Climer was the lead Senate sponsor of legislation to repeal South Carolina's Certificate of Need (CON) law, a regulatory framework dating to the 1970s that required healthcare providers to obtain state approval before building or expanding facilities, purchasing major medical equipment, or offering additional services. Competing providers — typically large hospital systems — could contest applications and effectively block rivals from entering local markets.^[15]

Climer introduced S.290 and the Senate passed it 35–6 in January 2022.^[16] He argued the program had been used to block more than $400 million in healthcare investment and that elimination would increase patient choice and lower costs through competition.^[17] Governor Henry McMaster signed the repeal — enacted as the Healthcare Facility Licensure Act — in October 2023, with immediate elimination of CON requirements for most facility types and a phased three-year sunset for hospital-specific requirements.^[18] A Mercatus Center analysis projected the repeal would increase the total number of hospitals in the state from 82 to 116 and grow rural hospitals from 21 to 30.^[17]

Judicial reform

South Carolina is one of only two states in which the legislature, rather than the governor or voters, controls judicial selection, through the Judicial Merit Selection Commission (JMSC), which screens candidates before the General Assembly elects them. Critics, including Climer, have argued the process is compromised by "lawyer-legislators" who sit on the JMSC and later appear before the judges they helped select.^[19][20]

In fall 2023, Climer pledged to block all judicial elections during the 2024 session until reform was enacted, and he and more than twenty co-sponsoring senators withheld action on judgeships for months.^[20] The standoff produced S.1046, which the Senate passed unanimously in March 2024 and Governor McMaster signed into law that July. The act expanded JMSC membership from ten to twelve, including four gubernatorial appointees, and added term limits and live-streamed hearings, though it did not remove sitting legislators from the commission.^[21][22]

In October 2025, Climer joined a bipartisan group of legislators introducing further legislation to transfer JMSC appointment authority from the General Assembly to the governor, who would appoint all commission members; the JMSC would still recommend nominees to the General Assembly for confirmation by simple majority vote. Climer said the bill was intended to "finish the job" of the 2024 reform.^[23] As of April 2026, the measure faced uncertain prospects in the Senate.^[19]

Electricity market competition

Beginning in 2020, Climer has been a principal advocate for introducing greater competition into South Carolina's electricity market, which is dominated by monopoly utilities Duke Energy and Dominion Energy's South Carolina subsidiary. He co-sponsored Senate Bill 998 with Senators Paul Campbell Jr. and Tom Davis, creating the Electricity Market Reform Measures Study Committee. Signed by Governor McMaster as Act 187 of 2020, the law directed the committee to study market reforms including potential membership in a regional transmission organization (RTO), which would introduce independent grid management and facilitate competition among power suppliers.^[24][25] As of 2025, Climer continued to advocate for large-load retail choice legislation that would allow major industrial customers to select their own electricity supplier.^[26]

Agricultural emergency assistance

As chairman of the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, Climer championed a $35 million emergency assistance package for South Carolina row crop farmers in the state's fiscal year 2026–2027 budget, responding to a sector-wide crisis driven by stagnant commodity prices, rising fuel and fertilizer costs, and drought. The South Carolina Farm Bureau reported row crop farmers lost more than $700 million combined in 2024 and 2025.^[27][28]

Climer's proposal, adopted by the Senate as a budget proviso, would distribute funds through the state Department of Agriculture on a per-acre basis, with grants capped at $135,000 per farm, supplementing roughly $70 million in expected federal aid.^[29][28] Rather than creating a new financial obligation, the proposal redirected the funding from a South Carolina Department of Commerce account used to provide economic development incentives to attract out-of-state companies to relocate to South Carolina.^[28][29] Climer described the agricultural economy as being "in absolute crisis."^[30] As of the Senate's April 2026 vote, the measure remained subject to House reconciliation and the governor's signature.^[31]

2026 Congressional campaign

On July 31, 2025, Climer announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for South Carolina's 5th congressional district, the seat being vacated by U.S. Representative Ralph Norman, who announced a bid for governor. Norman subsequently endorsed Climer as his preferred successor.^[3][6] Climer was unopposed in the Republican primary, held June 9, 2026.^[32]

Personal life

Climer is married to Martie Behrens Climer; the couple has five children and resides in Rock Hill, South Carolina. In addition to his legislative service, Climer works as a financial advisor with Climer Wealth Management Group. He is a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church and a former Eagle Scout.^[2][4]