Trump-backed Evette has slim lead in SC governor race with AG Wilson still feeling confident

South Carolinians will have a new governor for the first time in 10 years in 2026. But as voters head to ballot boxes Tuesday for primary elections, Trump-endorsed Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette holds just the narrowest of leads in the GOP race ahead of the state Attorney General Alan Wilson and Rep. Nancy Mace – in a contest that appears too close to call.A poll released Saturday by The Citadel that surveyed 600 likely Republican primary voters found 17% support Evette, with Wilson and Mace each getting 16% of the likely vote. Congressman Ralph Norman and Rom Reddy garnered about 13% and 14%, respectively. 
The breakout polls for Republican primaries had a 4.5% margin of error, and 23% of respondents were still undecided in the gubernatorial one, which suggested that the race is deadlocked.
“I think that’s because there are so many choices to make at this time,” Mark Owens of the Citadel Poll said. 
Other recent polls also show a very tight GOP gubernatorial primary, with political analysts predicting a runoff between the top two candidates, considering the unlikelihood of one getting at least 50% of the vote and becoming the outright winner.
A Republican is widely expected to win the General Election in November, considering the state has not had a Democratic governor since 2003.
The race is for the seat of GOP Gov. Henry McMaster, who must relinquish his post because of term limits. 
Wilson, who’s served as attorney general for more than 15 years, told Just the News on Monday that he’s feeling optimistic about Tuesday’s election based on his homestretch campaigning and what he’s seen in public and internal independent polls.
“The energy that I’ve seen on the ground this week, the number of people that have walked up to me saying that they’ve already voted for me or will be voting for me, just up on the street, has been through the roof. I’ve never had this much engagement,” he said.
Wilson also spoke about the behind-the-scenes political drama that led to Trump endorsing Evette – which was that she offered McMaster’s son a position as her running mate for lieutenant governor – which Henry McMaster Jr. isn’t taking – if the governor was able to get the president to endorse her. 
“Governor McMaster fought very hard for his family and his son’s political future,” said Wilson, noting that the president was willing to endorse Evette because of his friendship with McMaster. “This is really about a favor between two friends, two men who are very loyal to each other, and I respect that.
“But at the end of the day, people in South Carolina are going to vote for the best candidate for governor, not the person who was able to leverage an endorsement based on someone else’s friendship.”
He believes South Carolinians are looking for someone with a record who’s demonstrated an ability to fight, which he thinks he’s done better than anyone else in the race. Wilson also thinks South Carolina residents prefer a governor who isn’t “coordinated” or part of a political dynasty.
“I think they want someone who’s going to put in the work and show them that they’re going to earn it, not be inherited,” Wilson said.
Among the key voter issues are an overall general concern about their financial situation, including whether state lawmakers will provide them some relief at the fuel pumps by temporarily suspending the state gas tax, and whether the lawmakers will allow local areas to add optional toll lanes to bypass traffic, according to the Citadel Poll. 
Mace and Trump had a political falling out when she pushed for more transparency in the Justice Department’s release of the Epstein files.
“I know I put the likelihood of an endorsement on the line when I demanded transparency on the Epstein files,” Mace said in a social media post in May. “If sacrificing my values is the price of an endorsement, I will never pay it.”
South Carolina’s polls close at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

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