South Carolina GOP Governor's Race: Trump-Backed Pamela Evette Advances to Runoff

South Carolina just had its Republican primary for governor, and the result is: nobody won outright. That means a runoff is coming — and it's shaping up to be a big test of just how much pull Donald Trump has over his own party in 2026.

Here's the setup: Current Governor Henry McMaster is term-limited, so South Carolina needs a new governor. A crowded GOP field of five major candidates lined up to replace him, and Tuesday's primary was the first cut. Under South Carolina law, if no one breaks 50% of the vote, the top two finishers go to a runoff. Nobody crossed that threshold.

The two who punched their tickets to the next round: Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette, backed by Trump, who finished first with about 29% of the vote; and Attorney General Alan Wilson, who came in second with around 26%. They'll face each other again on June 23.

Evette isn't exactly a household name outside South Carolina, but she's been in statewide office since 2019. She's a businesswoman from Travelers Rest who describes herself as a "staunch Trump conservative." Her platform hits the MAGA checklist: eliminating the state income tax, creating a government efficiency department, limiting Chinese companies in the state, and aligning closely with Trump's national agenda. Trump endorsed her in late May, just about ten days before the primary, calling her "an America First Patriot."

Her opponent in the runoff, Alan Wilson, has been the state's attorney general for over 15 years and is the son of Congressman Joe Wilson. He's also a pro-Trump Republican — just one without the formal presidential endorsement. He's been touting support from local law enforcement and his service in the South Carolina National Guard. After Tuesday night, Mace — one of the eliminated candidates — announced she'd be throwing her support behind Wilson for the runoff. That's a notable boost.

The eliminated candidates are a story in themselves. Rep. Nancy Mace, who had once been seen as a possible Trump endorsement pick and had a close relationship with him, finished fifth with just 11.4% of the vote. Rep. Ralph Norman came in third with 16.5%, and self-funding businessman Rom Reddy placed fourth at nearly 15%. Both Mace and Norman are sitting members of Congress who had loudly backed Trump — yet still lost. That tells you something about how much the actual endorsement matters versus just claiming the MAGA label.

There was also a minor drama around Trump's endorsement post: when he backed Evette, he seemed to hint that the current governor's son, Henry McMaster Jr., should be her running mate for lieutenant governor. Critics called it a backroom deal. McMaster denied any arrangement, Evette said she'd name no running mate before the primary, and by Friday, McMaster Jr. had taken himself out of consideration entirely.

As for the bigger picture — this race is being watched nationally as a barometer of Trump's endorsement power in 2026. He's had wins (ousting incumbents in Louisiana, Kentucky, Indiana, and Texas), but just last week his endorsed Iowa gubernatorial pick, Rep. Randy Feenstra, lost to a MAHA-backed outsider named Zach Lahn. South Carolina was supposed to be a cleaner test. Evette did finish first, but not by a landslide, and now she still has a fight on her hands.

For you personally? If you live in South Carolina, mark June 23 on your calendar — that runoff will decide who's almost certainly your next governor, since a Democrat hasn't won the governor's mansion there in over two decades. If you're watching national politics, this is one of the clearest windows into whether Trump's endorsement is still a guaranteed golden ticket, or whether that power is starting to get more complicated.