Charles Bumgardner
Charles Bumgardner (Republican Party) ran for election to the South Carolina State Senate to represent District 10. He lost in the Republican primary runoff on June 25, 2024.
Bumgardner completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Charles Bumgardner was born in Columbia, South Carolina. He attended Clemson University, East Tennessee State University, and the University of South Carolina for his undergraduate studies. He earned a bachelor's degree in January 1983 from Clemson University. Bumgardner also earned an M.D. from the Medical University of South Carolina in 1986 and a graduate degree from the University of Rochester in 1987. His career experience includes working as a dentist. He has also taught as a lecturer at the MUSC School of Dentistry and served as a license examiner and expert reviewer for the State Board of Dentistry. Bumgardner has served as president of the Southern Academy of Oral Surgery, president of the South Carolina State Board of Dentistry, fellow of the American College of Dentists, secretary of the South Carolina Board of Dentistry, member of the South Carolina Dental Association, and member of the American Dental Association.[1][2]
Elections
2024
See also: South Carolina State Senate elections, 2024
General election
General election for South Carolina State Senate District 10
Incumbent Billy Garrett defeated Francie Kleckley in the general election for South Carolina State Senate District 10 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Billy Garrett (R) | 69.1 | 38,994 |
 | Francie Kleckley (D)  | 30.7 | 17,349 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 99 | ||
| Total votes: 56,442 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary runoff election
Republican primary runoff for South Carolina State Senate District 10
Incumbent Billy Garrett defeated Charles Bumgardner in the Republican primary runoff for South Carolina State Senate District 10 on June 25, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Billy Garrett | 56.2 | 4,933 |
 | Charles Bumgardner | 43.8 | 3,849 | |
| Total votes: 8,782 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for South Carolina State Senate District 10
Francie Kleckley defeated Brandon Best in the Democratic primary for South Carolina State Senate District 10 on June 11, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Francie Kleckley | 51.0 | 1,019 |
 | Brandon Best | 49.0 | 979 | |
| Total votes: 1,998 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for South Carolina State Senate District 10
Incumbent Billy Garrett and Charles Bumgardner advanced to a runoff. They defeated Troy Simpson and Taylor Bell in the Republican primary for South Carolina State Senate District 10 on June 11, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Billy Garrett | 41.1 | 5,292 |
| ✔ | | Charles Bumgardner | 23.1 | 2,969 |
| Troy Simpson | 19.4 | 2,500 | ||
| Taylor Bell | 16.4 | 2,118 | ||
| Total votes: 12,879 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Campaign finance
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Bumgardner in this election.
2020
See also: South Carolina State Senate elections, 2020
General election
General election for South Carolina State Senate District 18
Incumbent Ronnie Cromer defeated Christopher Thibault in the general election for South Carolina State Senate District 18 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Ronnie Cromer (R) | 72.2 | 46,032 |
 | Christopher Thibault (D) | 27.7 | 17,639 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 64 | ||
| Total votes: 63,735 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Christopher Thibault advanced from the Democratic primary for South Carolina State Senate District 18.
Republican primary election
Republican primary for South Carolina State Senate District 18
Incumbent Ronnie Cromer defeated Charles Bumgardner in the Republican primary for South Carolina State Senate District 18 on June 9, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ronnie Cromer | 62.1 | 10,337 |
| Charles Bumgardner | 37.9 | 6,296 | |
| Total votes: 16,633 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Charles Bumgardner completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Bumgardner's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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As a small business owner, healthcare professional, and former first responder, I have the real-world experience to fight for effective, common-sense solutions that tackle the real challenges we’re facing.
The people of Greenwood, Saluda, and Lexington Counties deserve a State Senator with the financial management experience required to make smart, fiscally conservative budget decisions that benefit the people of our great district. As a successful small business owner of over 37 years, I have made payroll, personnel management decisions, and budgets that meet today’s needs while planning for future growth.
I understand how to work with state government and administrations to make effective change. Over the course of my career, I have served on the South Carolina Board of Dentistry, including as Board President. During this time,I have written regulations, interpreted statutes for governing bodies, and held judiciary roles in licensure discipline.
I am an avid outdoorsman and appreciate the great beauty our state has to offer.
As your State Senator, I will be a positive voice for the people of Senate District 10. South Carolina is a wonderful place to live, and together, we can make it even better.- Judicial Reform - Our judicial system does not work well for the average South Carolinian, and we need to change the way judges are appointed to improve transparency and accountability in our judiciary. We have the fox guarding the hen house. Lawyer legislators are appointing judges who will hear and rule on cases they’ll bring forth as practicing attorneys. South Carolinians deserve a better legal system than one of fancy legal maneuvering and no accountability. As your State Senator, I will propose legislation that allows for transparently and accountability in our judiciary.
- Infrastructure: We depend on roads and bridges that have been neglected or patched for so long that many need to be rebuilt. South Carolina, and District 10, are growing quickly. Our state is a beautiful place to call home, and folks around the country are moving to South Carolina to enjoy our way of living, but this is putting even more strain on our under-maintained roads and bridges. We need safe roads to drive on and a plan for growth that works: a plan that will address traffic, invest in our roads and bridges, and maintain the great quality of life we get to experience in District 10. I will fight to ensure the SC Legislatures prioritizes real fixes to our infrastructure, not sweetheart deals or projects that lead to nowhere.
- Term Limits: Serving the public as an elected official should be a calling, not a career. Career politicians need a deadline for their work — term limits for their time in office. I will work for election reforms that include term limits for all legislators.
I enjoyed driving a bus route and worked as a bus driver all throughout my time in high school. When I went to college, I worked as a paid firefighter and EMT with the Clemson University Fire and EMS.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2020
Charles Bumgardner completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Bumgardner's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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As a business owner, Dr. Bumgardner has experience in making decisions that potentially affect others; such as, generating/meeting payroll, human resource management, regulation compliance, and caring for his patients. He is a member of the American Dental Association, the South Carolina Dental Association, and is an invited member of the American College of Dentists. In 2017, Dr. Bumgardner was elected to serve on the South Carolina State Board of Dentistry representing the 2nd Congressional District.
Charles has been a strong supporter of Christian outreach through his work with YOUNG LIFE. He is an avid sailor on Lake Murray and has served on the Board of Stewards of the Columbia Sailing Club. He also enjoys hunting, scuba diving, and motor boating. He and Leslie have two adult children.- TERM LIMITS- I will work for election reforms that will include term limits for all legislators. Our founding fathers did not envision "career politicians".
- FIX THE ROADS- South Carolina has increased the gasoline tax. Our state has the money and yet our legislature has managed to limit the use of this money, so that most of the roads in South Carolina continue to crumble.
- END GOVERNMENT IN THE DARK- I will work with and support Governor McMaster's efforts to end South Carolina's "corrupt" budget process.
37 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
We need to show everyone the love of Christ. Sometimes this would include turning over tables and knocking down chairs. Matthew 21:12
Sadly the only sitting senators with Doctorate degrees are attorneys. The current committee for Medical Affairs is chaired by a Farm and Garden Center owner. The only SC Senator with any medical training (a pharmacist) is not even on this committee. As a dentist, I have experience in direct patient care. I also have medical training. The first two years of dental school when I went through MUSC, were taken with the medical students. These courses would transfer towards a medical degree if one chose to transfer from dentistry to medicine. It is sad that more medical professionals are not serving in SC Senate. We need that type of expertise.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate South Carolina State Senate District 10 |
Personal |
Footnotes
