Alan Wilson wins South Carolina GOP governor runoff

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson won the Republican nomination for governor Tuesday, defeating Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette in a runoff shaped by President Donald Trump’s unusual decision to endorse both candidates in the final days of the race.

CBS News and NBC News projected Wilson’s victory. He will face Democratic state Rep. Jermaine Johnson in the Nov. 3 general election, with Republicans seeking to keep control of the governor’s office in a state that has not elected a Democratic governor since the late 1990s.

The race is South Carolina’s first open contest for governor since 2010. Republican Gov. Henry McMaster is term-limited and could not run again.

Wilson and Evette advanced to the runoff after neither won a majority in the June 9 Republican primary. Evette led that first round with about 29% of the vote, while Wilson followed with about 26%. Seven other candidates were eliminated, including Reps. Ralph Norman and Nancy Mace and coastal businessman Rom Reddy.

Wilson has served as South Carolina’s attorney general since 2010, making him the longest-serving person to hold the position in state history. He also serves as a colonel in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps for the South Carolina Army National Guard and is known for his work on the Alex Murdaugh trial.

Evette entered the runoff with high-profile backing. Trump endorsed her in May, calling her a “good friend, fighter, and WINNER.” McMaster, who chose Evette as his running mate in 2018 and helped launch her political career, also supported her.

But a few days before the runoff, Trump shifted course and endorsed both Evette and Wilson in a Truth Social post.

“These were the two that I was hoping would get into a Runoff, and they did. I can’t hurt one of them by only endorsing the other, so, therefore, I am going to endorse, for Governor of South Carolina, both Pam Evette and Alan Wilson! It’s a Wealth of Riches — With either one, you can’t go wrong,” Trump wrote.

The dual endorsement came after Wilson gained momentum in polling, CBS News reported, and after Trump-backed candidates lost in two other gubernatorial primaries. In Iowa, Rep. Randy Feenstra, whom Trump endorsed, lost the Republican primary to businessman Zach Lahn. Afterward, Trump suggested he had not been fully familiar with the contest and said “the other person was much more Trump” than Feenstra. In Georgia, political newcomer Rick Jackson, a billionaire businessman, defeated Trump-backed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in the governor’s race.

Wilson also consolidated support from former rivals and prominent South Carolina Republicans. Norman and Mace endorsed him after the first primary, as did Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C. Mace’s backing came after she conceded and may have helped Wilson with voters skeptical of Trump’s influence in the state party, CBS News reported.

Johnson won the Democratic primary and will be the party’s nominee in November. Wilson enters the general election as the heavy favorite, according to CBS News and NBC News. South Carolina has elected Republican governors in every election since 2002, when its last Democratic governor, Jim Hodges, was leaving office.