South Carolina’s Republican primary for governor will head to a runoff this month between Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, who was endorsed by President Trump, and Alan Wilson, the state attorney general, according to The Associated Press.
Both candidates had made their loyalty to the president abundantly clear: Ms. Evette regularly shared photos of herself with Mr. Trump in campaign dispatches, and Mr. Wilson included a “Trump Tough” section on his campaign website.
But in interviews, voters appeared to be more concerned about who could steer their rapidly growing state through its infrastructure woes and rising cost of living. Mr. Trump’s endorsement of Ms. Evette gave her a slight edge, but it was not enough to help her secure more than 50 percent of the vote and avoid a runoff.
Representative Nancy Mace, whose political shape-shifting and name-calling had earned her national notoriety, had also courted Trump supporters but fell short in her quest for the governorship. In a concession speech on Tuesday evening, she endorsed Mr. Wilson.
A second sitting congressman, Ralph Norman, a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, also failed to make the runoff.
Now, both Ms. Evette and Mr. Wilson will have only two weeks to barnstorm the state ahead of the runoff on June 23. The state has elected only Republican governors since 2002.
An Ohio-born businesswoman, Ms. Evette has served as lieutenant governor alongside Gov. Henry McMaster since 2019. Mr. McMaster, the state’s longest-serving governor, cannot run again because of term limits. Ms. Evette has sought to present herself as the obvious successor to help manage the state’s growth.
Mr. McMaster also endorsed her, and the president had suggested in his endorsement announcement that Ms. Evette tap the governor’s son, Henry McMaster Jr., as her second in command.
That suggestion fueled backlash among Ms. Evette’s opponents, who accused her of having negotiated a backroom deal. Ms. Evette has denied those claims and said she would not pick her running mate until after the primary. The younger Mr. McMaster later removed himself from consideration.
Mr. Wilson, a National Guard veteran, has focused his campaign on affordability. He said in an interview this month that while South Carolinians loved the president and his agenda, “they’re not going to vote for someone simply because they were able to orchestrate an endorsement based on a deal.”
That Ms. Evette and Mr. Wilson emerged as the top two vote-getters suggested that South Carolinians were broadly split between establishment leaders who have gained reputations as relatively moderate conservatives, and not interested in far-right firebrands.
The crowded primary — the first wide-open race for governor in almost two decades — became ugly and personal at times, as the candidates jockeyed for support. But at least one candidate, Ms. Mace, said on Tuesday that she had “buried the hatchet” with Mr. Wilson as she endorsed him in the runoff.
“I want a law and order governor, and that law and order governor is going to be Alan Wilson,” she told supporters at a watch party in Charleston.
The winner of the runoff will face State Representative Jermaine Johnson, who clinched the Democratic primary on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press.
Tiffany Tan contributed reporting from Charleston, S.C., and Nick Madigan from Columbia, S.C.