Trump Endorsement Not Enough as South Carolina Governor’s Race Heads to Runoff

Despite securing a coveted endorsement from President Trump, Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette fell short of an outright victory in Tuesday’s Republican primary for governor of South Carolina.

Evette will now face Attorney General Alan Wilson in a runoff election scheduled for June 23. Wilson has centered his campaign on affordability and cost-of-living issues. According to The Associated Press, the upcoming second round will serve as a significant litmus test for President Trump’s political influence in a state that has been a stronghold of the Make America Great Again movement for a decade.

Tuesday’s results suggest that South Carolina voters are prioritizing local governance, specifically infrastructure improvements and the challenges of a rapidly growing population, over national political alignments. At her watch party, some of the strongest reactions from Evette’s supporters came in response to her promises to repair the state’s roads.

Preliminary figures show Evette holding just under 30 percent of the vote, with Wilson trailing closely at approximately 26 percent. Given that South Carolina has exclusively elected Republican governors since 2002, the runoff winner is widely expected to secure the governorship.

Evette reported that President Trump called her Tuesday evening to express his confidence in her ability to win the runoff. She has framed the contest as a choice between herself, a “Trump-endorsed businesswoman,” and Wilson, whom she characterized as a “career politician.”

Wilson has also emphasized his loyalty to the president, featuring a “Trump Tough” section on his website and frequently praising the president’s agenda. However, Evette leaned more heavily into the association, frequently sharing photos with Trump throughout her campaign—leading some voters to believe she had secured the endorsement before it was formally announced.

Other high-profile candidates failed to make the runoff, including Representative Nancy Mace, Representative Ralph Norman of the House Freedom Caucus, and millionaire outsider Rom Reddy. Wilson wasted no time courting the supporters of these defeated candidates, positioning himself as the unifying choice for the GOP base.

An Ohio-born businesswoman, Evette has served as lieutenant governor since 2019 under Governor Henry McMaster. Because McMaster is term-limited, Evette presented herself as the natural successor to manage the state’s expansion. While Governor McMaster also endorsed her, the campaign became contentious when the president suggested she select the governor’s son, Henry McMaster Jr., as her running mate.

Opponents accused Evette of negotiating a “backroom deal,” a claim she denied, stating that she would not select a running mate until after the primary. Henry McMaster Jr. has since removed himself from consideration.

Wilson, a National Guard veteran, argued in a recent interview that while the state supports the president’s agenda, voters will not support a candidate based solely on a negotiated endorsement.

The primary was marked by personal friction, but Representative Nancy Mace indicated she has “buried the hatchet” by endorsing Wilson. Mace stated that she desires a “law-and-order governor” and believes Wilson is the right fit for the role.

Mace, a known advocate for the release of the Epstein files and a survivor of trauma, suggested that her push for transparency may have cost her Trump’s support. “I chose to expose the abusers of children and, apparently, I chose wrong if the goal was winning an election,” Mace told supporters. “I’m at peace with that.”

The winner of the Republican runoff will go on to face State Representative Jermaine Johnson, who secured the Democratic nomination on Tuesday.

Source link