Pelbath confirmed to the Washington Examiner that he is weighing a bid.

“After a lifetime of service in uniform, I’m now prayerfully considering how I can continue serving the Lowcountry and our country,” Pelbath said. “I’ve been spending time with my family and meeting with folks across the Lowcountry to understand their priorities.

He added, “If I step into this race, it’ll be to fight for President Trump’s America First agenda, defend our values, and bring leadership, not politics, to Washington.”

Pelbath, a political outsider, is framing himself as a mission-driven conservative, ready to bring battlefield experience to a divided Capitol.

“He wouldn’t go to Washington to blend in — he would go to lead,” a source close to Pelbath said. “He’d work to secure the border, stop the fentanyl crisis, end the weaponization of government, and get politics out of our military so we can rebuild a force that wins.”

A 22-year Air Force veteran, Pelbath logged over 4,000 flight hours, including more than 1,000 in combat, and led special operations missions across the globe. During the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, he served as air mission commander for the final evacuation from Kabul, piloting the last U.S. aircraft out. For his leadership, he received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Sully Sullenberger Award for Courage.

In a 2022 TEDx Talk, Pelbath described the emotional intensity of that mission: “I knew there were people on the ground who believed the Americans were gone … but I wasn’t,” he said. “That night, I flew with clarity, with conviction, and with compassion.”

After Kabul, Pelbath served at the Pentagon, where he contributed to two national defense budgets and advised the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on global threats. He has since been outspoken about what he sees as the risks of bureaucracy, weak leadership, and “woke ideology” undermining military readiness.

Now based in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, Pelbath serves on the Lowcountry board of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and is active in his church. A graduate of the Air Force Academy and former Division I wrestler, he also holds a master’s degree in strategic leadership. He and his wife have two college-aged children.

His likely entry sets up a high-stakes Republican primary in South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, a coastal swing seat that has changed hands multiple times in recent cycles. Though it leans Republican — Trump carried it in both 2020 and 2024 — Democrats remain competitive there.

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In 2018, Democrat Joe Cunningham flipped the seat in a major upset, capitalizing on suburban backlash to Trump and Republican attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. But two years later, Mace narrowly defeated Cunningham in 2020, reclaiming the seat for the GOP. She held on comfortably in 2022 and 2024, but with her exit, the race is wide open.

Other possible GOP contenders include Jay Byars, a longtime Dorchester County councilman, and Mark Smith, a Lowcountry state lawmaker. On the Democratic side, Mayra Rivera-Vazquez and Robert Beers III have filed early paperwork, though the field remains unsettled.