After Trump’s double endorsement, Alan Wilson wins GOP nomination for SC governor over Pamela Evette By Nick Reynolds and Ian Grenier 13 hrs ago COLUMBIA — Attorney General Alan Wilson easily won the Republican primary to become South Carolina’s GOP nominee for governor, setting up a November matchup with Democratic state Rep. Jermaine Johnson after a brutal party showdown that required two rounds of voting that was decided following a double endorsement by President Donald Trump.
Wilson led Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette by a near two-to-one margin in the early vote count, an insurmountable trend that led to the race being called a half hour after polls closed at 7 p.m.
Wilson took the stage at his watch celebration in a Columbia ballroom shortly after 8 p.m. alongside multiple members of his family, lieutenant governor running mate Mike Reichenbach and several colleagues from the Republican Attorneys General Association, and also Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry.
He delivered a grateful and reconciliatory speech to his supporters and opponents that echoed many themes of his on the campaign trail: a top-down audit of state government, renewed infrastructure and an end to the days of “bad corporate deals that cost taxpayers billions,” he said.
Attorney General Alan Wilson won the Republican primary to become South Carolina’s GOP nominee for governor. In his victory speech, he outlined some of his priorities: a top-down audit of state government, renewed infrastructure and an end to the days of “bad corporate deals that cost taxpayers billions.”
“This movement is real,” Wilson said. “And it’s going to change South Carolina forever.”
The race was trending toward 69 percent of the statewide turnout for Wilson to 31 percent for Evette at the time the outcome was called.
The June 23 defeat represents as a remarkable collapse for Evette, who saw her support erode in the final two weeks despite the backing of both sitting governor Henry McMaster and Trump who, in an oddity of South Carolina politics, threw his support behind both candidates on June 12th after Evette's standing in the polls began to slip.
Evette threw her support behind Wilson, telling a crowd of staff and supporters in Myrtle Beach she was disappointed with the results but is committed to ensuring a Republican win in November.
South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette conceded to Attorney General Alan Wilson after he secured the GOP nomination for governor.
“It’s OK to be disappointed, Lord knows I am, but in just a few months there’s going to be a general election,” she said, flanked by her family onstage. “And the choice in that general election is going to be between conservative principles and a Democratic Party that wants the exact opposite for South Carolina. And that’s not even a close call.”
McMaster issued a statement praising Evette and the GOP ticket going forward.
“I congratulate Alan Wilson on his victory tonight,” he said. “He has served the people of South Carolina as Attorney General and brings years of experience to this race. Now, Republicans must unite behind our nominee and continue working to keep South Carolina strong.”
A wild closing days The result comes on the heels of a dramatic, two-week runoff campaign that saw both sides burn through millions of dollars in attempts to coalesce the June 9 primary field around them.
Fueled by the late “complete, and total endorsement” of Trump entering the campaign’s final week, Evette narrowly edged out Wilson for first place in the first round, winning 25 of the state’s 46 counties on a campaign built around her identity as a maverick in the president’s outsider image, running against a “career politician” in Wilson.
Wilson, who carried fewer but more urbanized regions of the state, seemed to pick up the most momentum in the closing days of the race. He beat out Evette for the endorsement of several of their former primary opponents as well as leading figures in five key counties that both finalists failed to carry in the June 9 first round.
As support poured in, Wilson surged in both public and internal polling, which showed him leading Evette by margins in the low teens to as high as 42 percentage points.
Others predicted even larger margins. With some 73,000 votes cast prior to election day June 23, polling by the conservative Faith and Freedom Coalition of America found Wilson holding nearly three-quarters of the early vote statewide.
Evette brushed off her opponents’ critiques in the closing days, noting that she and McMaster saw the field coalesce against them ahead of their 2018 runoff victory over conservative John Warren.
“This is the same as 2018,” she told Fox News the day before the election. “I'm working hard getting all around the state, shaking hands, introducing myself, and welcoming anybody who supported one of my opponents in the primary to come to Team Evette."
Trump, notably, endorsed McMaster in that race. But this time, the White House appeared to have soured on Evette. After a late field survey of the GOP electorate after their final runoff debate in Myrtle Beach, Trump announced the Friday before election day he planned to co-endorse Wilson alongside Evette, while White House-affiliated pollster John McLaughlin took to television the weekend before the election to share internal numbers showing Evette lagging behind Wilson by more than 40 points.
“She’s upside-down, unpopular,” McLaughlin said of Evette in a June 21 interview with conservative news outlet Newsmax. “It kind of diluted his endorsement.”
Evette told the Post and Courier she didn’t buy much into that polling, but said she didn’t know why the president had decided to also back her rival, repeating that she was proud to have gotten his endorsement when the field was crowded.
“He sent me a text on Friday and told me, 'keep fighting and win,’ “ she said of Trump in an interview the afternoon of June 23.
What happened? Campaigning with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz the night before the primary, both Cruz and Wilson stated that the endorsement of the president was still vital in modern elections. But some Republican voters said the president’s endorsement had little or no impact on how they cast their ballots for governor.
That was the case for Lugoff-area resident Jenny Powell, 84, who voted for Evette in the first round but flipped to Wilson after the lieutenant governor said she’d be open to casino gambling and highly-restricted medical marijuana during the June 16 runoff debate. Wilson laid out a similar stance on marijuana but opposed casinos.
Trump’s endorsement “didn’t hurt,” Powell said, but it also “didn’t help” compared to those social issues.
Other gaffes late in the campaign, including the fumbled rollout of a list of nine potential running mates just days before the election, also cost Evette with some voters, eroding her brand as a decisive, CEO-like figure.
“I can understand two, maybe three, but nine?” said Gibby Furniss, 68, whose vote also flipped from Evette in the first round to Wilson in the runoff.
Rob Godfrey, a political strategist and a veteran of several Republican gubernatorial campaigns, told The Post and Courier on election night he believed the final result came down to sheer campaign fundamentals. Many observers criticized the Evette campaign as being over-reliant on its associations with Trump, neglecting other elements of campaigning — like an effective ground game or volunteer network — typically seen in more successful, state-level campaigns.
Wilson, he said, did all of that.
“This victory was historic in its margin and uplifting to watch unfold over the course of the primary because Alan Wilson and his team were authentic, steady and joyful in a political environment that encouraged pandering, chasing shiny objects and slinging mud,” Godfrey said. “They sought out support from voters, not just headline endorsements, and, in the end, racked up the most of both. That should be as gratifying for his team as it is worth taking note of if you’re a candidate going forward.“
What’s next? The pair have already committed to a unity barbecue being hosted by the South Carolina Republican Party this weekend, where more than 500 people have already confirmed their attendance, state party Chairman Drew McKissick told The Post and Courier early June 23. He said he expected both to honor that commitment.
South Carolina politics has always been competitive, particularly on the Republican side,” McKissick said. “We compete hard and after that, we come together and we win.”
The Democratic nominee, Jermaine Johnson, is a state representative from Hopkins who has served in the Legislature since 2022. He easily dispatched his two opponents in the June 9 Democratic primary.
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