William Timmons

GREENVILLE — David Atchley, a Greenville businessman whose father served as president of Clemson University, is mounting a Republican primary challenge against U.S. House District 4 incumbent William Timmons.

Atchley, 60, started a Greenville-based fundraising and strategy consulting firm after working in the higher education world. He has raised more than $700 million for education, business and community growth initiatives, he said, and his firm boasts a corporate network that includes Michelin, Bank of America, BMW Manufacturing and Milliken.

Most recently, AtchleyWhite + Associates worked to secure corporate sponsorships for Trueline GVL, a new music venue coming to the West End.

Atchley previously worked for former U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond in the 1980s. He promised the senator he would someday run for public office, he said.

Adding that he has recently had dozens of conversations with constituents in Greenville and Spartanburg, Atchley characterized Timmons as inaccessible and disconnected from the district.

“I think we can do better,” he told The Post and Courier.

Timmons said he wasn’t aware of Atchley’s plans to run. Timmons is in D.C. because of his congressional duties, he said, but said he goes back and forth from the district frequently.

“My cellphone number is available to 850,000 people, and I pick it up every day, for many of them,” he told The Post and Courier.

“He's welcome to put his name in the hat, but he will be dispatched like the others,” he added.

Timmons, a former state senator and criminal prosecutor, comes from a prominent Greenville family and is a captain in the S.C. Army National Guard. He serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, the House Committee on Financial Services and chairs a subcommittee on Military and Foreign Affairs.

He is seeking reelection in 2026 with President Donald Trump’s endorsement, which the congressman announced in October.

In his 2024 primary election, Timmons narrowly lost his hometown Greenville County to former state Rep. Adam Morgan, but he brought in enough votes in neighboring Spartanburg County to surpass his former S.C. Freedom Caucus chairman challenger. Two years before, he narrowly beat three opponents in the 2022 primary with about 53 percent of the vote, after which well-publicized news of an extramarital affair dogged him in the 2024 run against Morgan.

As for Atchley, he plans to formally launch his campaign in mid-February, although his campaign site is now live. He has tapped a team of D.C. political consultants who ran businessman and former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s campaign.

Atchley — whose father, Bill L. Atchley, served as president of Clemson University from 1979 to 1985 — is running on his business background to make a difference in Washington.

He’s focusing on campaign issues like strengthening farming and agriculture, artificial intelligence legislation, mental health and insurance reform, term limits and eliminating wasteful spending.

“The (4th) district is, in my mind, the best district in the country,” he said. “We need to focus on the district as much as we need to focus on D.C.”

Filing for statewide races opens in March. The 2026 primary election is June 9.