President Donald Trump’s dual blessing in South Carolina’s race for governor proved successful Tuesday night, as state Attorney General Alan Wilson easily won the Republican runoff.
The Associated Press projected Wilson the winner at 7:26 p.m. ET, under half an hour after polls closed, as he held an advantage of roughly 30 points.
Wilson faced Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette for the GOP nomination to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Henry McMaster, who had thrown his support behind Evette.
Trump first endorsed Evette in late May, citing her status as the only Republican in the contest who had supported his 2024 presidential bid from the outset.
But by Friday, with Wilson appearing likely to prevail, Trump broadened his support to include both Evette and Wilson, a move seen as an effort to avoid being on the losing side.
Wilson has long been a familiar figure in South Carolina politics. He has served as attorney general since 2011, making him the longest-serving person in that role in the state’s history.
He is also the adopted son of Rep. Joe Wilson, who married Wilson’s mother after his biological father died in a helicopter training crash following his return from Vietnam.
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson became the second Republican candidate for governor to receive President Donald Trump’s endorsement, after Trump had initially backed Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette.
South Carolina Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette had been endorsed by President Donald Trump in May, but when polls indicated she looked poised to lose her runoff race Trump endorsed her rival, Attorney General Alan Wilson, too
Trump’s dual endorsement came just days after voters in Georgia defied his endorsement and chose billionaire Rick Jackson over the Trump-backed Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones in the governor’s race there.
Donald Trump Jr had read the tea leaves before the Georgia runoff and stated that a win for Jackson would also be a victory for MAGA.
Earlier this month, voters in Iowa also defied Trump in the governor’s race, choosing Zach Lahn, who’s associated with the Make America Healthy Again movement, over the President’s hand-picked candidate, Randy Feenstra.
To avoid a hat trick of losses, Trump gave his ‘Complete and Total Endorsement’ to both Evette and Wilson.
‘With either one you can’t go wrong,’ Trump said.
Since the initial June 9 primary, where Evette captured 28.9 percent and Wilson received 26.1 percent of the vote, two of the other candidates running for governor had pledged their support to Wilson.
That included Representative Nancy Mace, who came in fifth place on primary night, earning just 12.1 percent of the vote.
Mace and Trump have a historically rocky and complicated relationship and by the time she ran for governor, she was again on the outs with the President, partially because of her push to release the Epstein files.
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Republican gubernatorial hopeful Alan Wilson’s signs show his fresh endorsement from President Donald Trump, which came Friday, when the President decided to endorse both GOP candidates in South Carolina’s runoff
Texas Senator Ted Cruz was among the Republicans with a national profile to endorse South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson’s campaign for governor. Cruz appeared at a campaign stop Monday in Columbia
Her loss earlier this month represented another win for the President on his revenge tour, as he seeks to cleanse the Republican Party of critics.
Representative Ralph Norman, an early backer of former UN Ambassador and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley’s 2024 presidential run against Trump, came in third place in the primary with 17.1 percent of the vote.
Norman endorsed Wilson last week, calling him a ‘battle-tested conservative’ who would represent change from the current McMaster administration, a clear dig at Evette.
Rom Reddy, a businessman new to politics who was the primary’s fourth-place finisher, declined to endorse in Tuesday’s runoff.
In the days leading up to the runoff election, polling showed Wilson with a sizable advantage – suggesting Norman and Mace’s voter base had moved to the attorney general.
He also benefited from endorsements from South Carolina Senator Tim Scott and Texas Senator Ted Cruz, both of whom have national profiles.
And then finally, there was the stamp of approval from Trump.
An Insider Advantage survey conducted June 19-20 found 61 percent of likely voters backing Wilson and just 29 percent supporting Evette, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.46 percent.
Attorney General Alan Wilson, candidate for South Carolina governor, votes in the runoff race on Tueday at a polling place in Lexington, South Carolina alongside his daughter. He’s the adopted son of Representative Joe Wilson
‘I think voters are responding to a positive campaign and what we believe is an unbeatable grassroots and get-out-the-vote operation,’ Wilson’s communications director Woods Wooten told the Daily Mail before the polls closed on Tuesday.
‘While other candidates in this race focused on negative attacks, we’ve focused on building a broad coalition and reaching voters in every corner of South Carolina,’ Wooten added.
South Carolina Democrats chose Jermaine Johnson in the primary earlier this month, and no runoff was needed.
The state last elected a Democratic governor in 1998, with the election of Governor Jim Hodges.
