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South Carolina Governor Primary Headed to Runoff. Nancy Mace Finished Last After Defying Trump on Epstein Files.

Resist Now 2 min read

Two Trump Supporters, One Endorsement, One Runoff

South Carolina’s Republican governor primary on June 9 produced no majority winner. Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and Attorney General Alan Wilson advance to a June 23 runoff. The winner faces Democratic state Rep. Jermaine Johnson in November.

Governor Henry McMaster is term-limited after serving since 2017. This is the first open governor’s race in South Carolina since 2010.

The Endorsement Decided the Field

Trump endorsed Evette, calling her the “only South Carolina gubernatorial candidate to endorse me as soon as I launched my 2024 Presidential Campaign.” She is running on eliminating the state income tax, launching a state-level DOGE equivalent called SCOGE, and expanding school choice.

Wilson ran on his 15-year record as attorney general, emphasizing immigration enforcement lawsuits against the Biden and Obama administrations. He has the endorsement of seven other state AGs. On abortion, he said he would veto S. 1095, the bill that would remove exceptions for rape, incest, and fatal fetal anomalies from South Carolina’s ban.

Both candidates support Trump. The difference is one has the official endorsement and the other does not.

Nancy Mace Finished Last

Rep. Nancy Mace finished fifth in a field of major candidates. She lost Trump’s endorsement after signing a discharge petition to force the release of unredacted Jeffrey Epstein files. Trump called the effort a “Democrat hoax.”

Mace had courted Trump aggressively after criticizing him over January 6. She tried to run as both a Trump loyalist and a transparency advocate. The electorate did not buy it.

In the final days of the campaign, she called for a law barring naturalized citizens from holding office, targeting fellow candidate Rom Reddy, whose mother is from India and father from Italy. It did not help.

The Runoff Is June 23

Runoff elections in South Carolina historically draw far fewer voters than the primary. Lower turnout amplifies each individual vote. The winner of this runoff will almost certainly become the next governor of a state with 5.4 million people.

Both candidates support school choice expansion, which has direct implications for public school funding in a state that already ranks near the bottom nationally in education outcomes. Neither candidate has made voting rights expansion a priority.

The Democratic nominee, Jermaine Johnson, would be the first Black governor in South Carolina’s history if elected.

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