♪ > Welcome to This Week In South Carolina I'm Gavin Jackson.

This week we begin our look at the Republican gubernatorial field with its six main candidates ahead of the June 9th primary.

Today, we are looking at two of those candidates vying for that nomination, Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette and Fifth District Congressman Ralph Norman.

We caught up with the Lieutenant Governor at the Whistle Stop Cafe in the upstate town of Travelers Rest, where she lives with her family.

I opened our conversation by talking to her about what brought her to South Carolina decades ago and who she was before Governor Henry McMaster picked her to be his running mate for his first full term back in late 2017, for that 2018 race.

> Yeah well, that's, I was kind of boring.

I think my life was pretty much like most people's lives.

I was a, I'm a mom of three.

My mom is 97, she lives with me.

My mom's lived with me- My dad's been gone a long time, ...over 30 years.

And so, my mom has been, a major force in my life.

I mean, I always say I wouldn't be who I am without her because, as I was building my company, my mom was always there to be the backstop, right?

When I had to jump and go back to the office late at night.

She was at my house making sure the kids were in bed and well taken care of after I put them to bed and left to go back to work, she was there.

And so that's me.

I'm an accountant.

I'm a business person.

I, I take family and faith very, very seriously.

Was really close, I have three older brothers, was really close to them and very close to my parents growing up.

We were a pretty tight knit, big Polish family.

With all that, just think of my Big Fat Greek Wedding and just jump Polish in there, and it's really the same thing.

But, you know, my dad was, he was, was very... he was my mentor, right?

He was a tool and dye maker.

But I always wanted more.

You know, my mom is 97, my dad would be 98 if he was still alive.

Grew up in the depression.

They didn't take things for granted.

So when he wanted to step out on his own, for him, it was like, "I have a good job that has benefits, that puts a roof over my children's head.

I'm not going to take risks."

But when he was on his deathbed, he basically said to me, "The worst failures you can have are the risks you didn't take."

And I took that to heart.

And so when I decided I wanted to start my own business, he was kind of my inspiration.

And, took a lot of risks.

I mean, as I started QBS, I mean, I worked three other jobs because I didn't take money out of QBS for a while.

Because most business owners will tell you, just because you start a business doesn't mean money starts flowing in and you have to make investments back into your business.

And so, I did a lot of things, wore a lot of hats.

Grew QBS.

We were very fortunate.

And what got me down here was my husband.

My husband, born and raised right here in Travelers Rest.

His grandfather was a country singer.

Had a radio show and a dance barn.

And... he was born and raised here.

And we met- I was a consultant in our industry, had clients all over the country.

We got to meet, got to be friends.

We were friends for a lot of years.

I started QBS, David, became part of that.

And we ended up a few years later getting married.

And moved me down to South Carolina.

So we raised our kids here and grew our business here.

Gavin> A true South Carolina story for so many transplants who have moved here, as well as maybe the American Dream in a sense too growing a successful business, having a family and, now running for governor.

Lt.

Gov.

Evette> Gavin, I pinch myself a lot.

Like, my grandparents- My grandmother lived with me.

I never knew my grandfathers, they passed away.

Life definitely wasn't easy when you are an immigrant, coming over.

My grandfather worked in the steel mills.

My other grandfather, they were a little bit different, my dad's, they were entrepreneurs.

So maybe that's where it got in our blood.

They owned, it was funny, they owned a tavern and a candy store.

Just, you know, stores down from each other.

But, definitely, my grandmother gave us this sense of what it was like to be an American and how blessed we were to live in a country where you could be anything you wanted to be if you worked hard enough to get that.

And... and so, I got so much of that from them.

And I, I always think, like, what they must think, you know, looking down, leaving everything, coming here, really having nothing.

And now their granddaughter is the lieutenant governor, created a big national company, and is now running for governor.

I just, I always in my head think that they're smiling down, you know, being my biggest cheerers, up there.

> So take me back to 2017, speaking of that, that trajectory.

And when the Governor first tapped you again in the business world, politics was not on your radar as far as we could see at that time, <No> because you were, never been in public office, in a sense.

And here comes the Governor he's running for his first full term in that 2018 race.

I remember covering that with you and sitting down with you for the first time after he made that announcement and learning about you.

What was that moment like and how have things changed over that time with the Governor?

Lt.

Gov.

Evette> Well, it goes back a little further than that, back, because, you know, I was searching for somebody in politics that was not a career politician, which is no secret.

I was, I was on the Trump train when I was still just a business owner.

And it's because as a business owner, I kept seeing that, we kept getting more and more, inundated with regulations and things like that.

And it was getting harder and harder to grow our business.

And our clients, It was getting harder and harder for them to grow their businesses.

Which, you know, made me think like, "what are we doing?"

And you go back to my grandparents, I felt the American Dream was getting further and further away from all of us, especially our children.

So I jumped on the train.

I told all my friends, "this is my guy."

I want a business person.

I want somebody who's had to sign the front of a paycheck.

And, you know, won the primaries, I won the general.

Everybody that, in my orb was super shocked.

I became a political genius at that point.

But, that's how the Governor and I met.

So that's how our paths crossed, because obviously the Governor is the first elected official to endorse the President.

So when he called me down to Columbia, I mean, honestly, Gavin, I thought he was going to ask me to, like, sit on a board or a commission.

I went and told David, the Governor called and wanted me to come and meet with him.

And David's first response was, "Whatever he asks you, just say, no.

We don't have, you don't have enough hours in the day."

And I'm one of those people who, if it comes to my kids or comes to doing something that I feel passionately about, I usually say yes and figure out how to work it into my schedule.

To my surprise, he asked me to run as his Lieutenant Governor.

But it was how he asked me, that I think to me meant all the difference.

Because what he said is, he said, "I want a business person."

Somebody who has signed the front of the check.

Somebody who has had to, you know, stay up all night wondering how they were going to pass on, you know, at that point, a 12 to 15 percent insurance increase.

You know, are they going to eat it personally or are they gonna pass it on to their employees.

Who had to put their house up for collateral when they were starting their business.

And who would have a fresh set of eyes.

Somebody who hadn't been in the political world that wasn't tied to any piece of bill or regulation, who can look at it and say, "that doesn't make sense, and we need to fix it."

Gavin> So what do you think you've learned over these past eight years as his Lieutenant Governor?

What can you point to, some accomplishments that you're very proud of during that time?

Lt.

Gov.

Evette> So, you know, I'm really proud of for what the Governor and I did together.

I am just so proud of what we did for law enforcement.

You know, Governor, going to Marcia Adams and saying, "I want you to search the country and make sure we're paying our law enforcement properly."

And, you know, him and I both agreed if you wanted to be in law enforcement anywhere, we wanted you here in South Carolina.

And so we gave the biggest increases to our state law enforcement in our state's history.

We've been part of the biggest income tax cuts in our state's history.

We have stopped biologic males from being in women's sports.

It was something, you know, then Representative Ashley Trantham- I can remember walking up to the House, I see you an awful lot in the House.

Sergeant of Arms, always chuckles because the first time I walked into the House, he said, "I've been here a long time and I've never seen a lieutenant governor up here."

But I have really used my time over these last eight years to make relationships there.

So then, Representative Trantham came up and said, "Hey, I'm going to pass this, I'm going to put this bill in would it be something you would support."

And I said, "Absolutely."

So I remember being there when all that debate was going on and proud to be standing next to the Governor when it was signed into law.

But on my own, you know, the Governor being a very supportive governor, you know, this is- Technically by statute, the lieutenant governor doesn't have defined duties.

I took that as like an open end to be able to do anything that I wanted that would be impactful.

And the Governor allowed that.

And so starting, you know, we were doing the WIN Scholarships, really pushing that heavy through our amazing technical colleges.

So, youth employment was just getting lower and lower, it was the lowest in our nation's history.

So I started my YES Initiative, encouraging parents and kids to get back into the workforce.

Great jobs, small mom and pop businesses that couldn't find employees.

So, did a statewide tour, started that.

Really fought for Children's Trust.

Making sure- You know, I'm very pro-life.

That is no secret to anybody out there.

But I also love what South Carolina Citizens For Life is doing.

And something I have heavily pushed is that as we're making the state more and more pro-life, how are we helping moms that find themselves in situations where maybe they felt like abortion was the only outlet they had.

How are we giving them better options?

And so Children's Trust came to me asking me to help them advocate in the General Assembly for their Nurse-Mom Partnership Program.

I was happy to do that.

We got them the money they needed.

I worked with the House and the Senate to get on the budget and that to me was very rewarding.

So on my own, there were things that the Governor said go out and champion, and there were things I championed with him side by side.

So it has been an amazing eight years.

Gavin> That being said, what do you want to champion if you become the next governor?

This would be yours and yours alone.

I mean, what do you want to see done?

What are your priorities at this point?

Lt.

Gov.

Evette> Well, to eliminate state income tax.

I think that is on the docket.

You see states realizing- You know, we're all competing against the states around us.

So, you know, Florida, Texas, Tennessee has done it.

We can do it.

Automating government becomes hand in glove with that.

I get a lot- "Like, what was the, what was the thing that shocked you the most?"

It was just how little technology we had in government.

And President Trump has showed us, along with Elon Musk, with his DOGE Initiative, you know, like, the more technology you can lean on, the more systems that can talk together, the more efficient government can work, the less, waste, fraud and abuse you'll have, right?

Because everything is cross-checking each other.

I believe, as the workforce continues to get smaller and smaller, we lean on technology.

Other states that have done this have seen, you know, over a billion dollars in tax savings.

So that's something we have to push for.

You know, getting rid of useless regulations.

Gavin, I can't tell you, we are buried in regulations in South Carolina because we keep adding them on and we're not taking them away.

So, you know, the President said "for every one, I'm going to get rid of two."

He did that in his first term.

In the second term, he said, "for every one, we're going to get rid of ten."

I think we need to sunset all of our regulations, bring them back up in front of the General Assembly, figure what is good, what is outdated, let's just get rid of it.

But if it's written too broad, where bureaucrats can kind of put their own interpretation in, then let's tighten that up.

Gavin> Fifth District Congressman Ralph Norman invited us along as he filed with the State Election Commission on March 16th, the first of the six main Republican candidates to do so.

Norman has previously served in the State House in the Fifth District in the northwest portion of the state, which borders North Carolina and includes all of Cherokee, Chester, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lancaster, Lee, Union, and York counties, with parts of Newberry, Spartanburg, and Sumter counties.

He first filed to run for that district back in 2017, in a special election to replace Congressman Mick Mulvaney, who was chosen to serve in the first Trump administration.

And Norman has won ever since.

He told me that when he saw who was running for governor that he had to file himself.

Rep.

Norman> Yeah, it seems like forever since I was up here.

Gavin> I was gonna say, did you ever think that you'd be up here filing for governor?

Rep.

Norman> No, this wasn't on my radar screen at all.

Gavin> After filing, we had coffee with the congressman at the Melting Pot restaurant in Columbia, where I asked him about life before politics.

> Born and raised in Rock Hill, South Carolina, right on the border near Charlotte.

Went to the public schools there.

After graduation from high school, went to Presbyterian College, graduated.

Then my father had started a real estate company.

And, as it is with families and our family in particular, we just all got along.

I mean, he was fun to work with.

And, had started a residential company, he did a lot of different things, but I, straight from college, I went in.

Now, married, got married to a fellow girlfriend from, went to Presbyterian from Belton, Elaine Norman.

Had four children and now seventeen grandchildren.

So, I worked in the real estate business for 30 years, before I even thought about politics.

I let my children grow up and get out of the house, and then decided to give back.

And couldn't, have made a better decision.

You hear the, downside about politics.

Best decision I've ever made because you can, you can do so much for so many people in a different way.

And we have a successful real estate company.

Fortunately, my brother and my son are still running it.

And we're, we've grown tremendously over the last, I guess 20 years, really.

I entered, I ran for the South Carolina House in 2005.

Served there a brief time and then had always had an interest in Congress.

And when Mick Mulvaney went to OMB, I decided to throw my hat in the ring, won a special election and been there eight years.

And... again, a good move for me.

Gavin> Yeah Congressman, again did that brief term in the State House and then also tried to run for a special election for the Fifth and then jumped right back in, in 2009 at the State House for a good, good bit there.

And, you know, you made some connections, some friends, Nikki Haley, Former Governor.

We can talk about your connection to her in a moment, but did you enjoy your time in the State House?

Obviously, you talked about Congress, but what did you learn at the State House that maybe you carried on into Congress?

Rep.

Norman> Well, when you- I'm unique in a way that a lot of politicians who are in, who serve and run, they're not from the business arena.

They come from, a lot of them are lawyers- With I think, 30 percent in the legal profession.

And, a lot of them are in government, which, there's nothing wrong with that.

But I've always said to, to run for office, a requirement should be, you should have made money and lost money.

Not gotten a government paycheck.

Not, been- My sister is a lawyer, but, I think in a lot of ways it's, a lot of conflicts of interest which we'll get into on my platform.

But, they're good people.

I've got a lot of friends when I go there, go into General Assembly.

I have good friends and, but... if you look at where South Carolina is, we just got a problem with growth of government and a lot of different things that, structurally, that should not happen.

So, but they're good people overall.

Gavin> And you got up to D.C., representing the Fifth District there in 2017.

Again, that special election for Mick Mulvaney's seat there when he got tapped to go to OMB.

Wrapping up your time up there now, looking back, I mean, what are some of your highlights?

Do you think that you accomplished everything you wanted to or your goals when you went to Washington?

Rep.

Norman> Well, my goals are to reduce government.

To turn the, the government back to the people.

To reduce our debt.

And to basically give great constituent service.

Now, the debt in this country, 39 trillion, you hear that number.

Very few people can comprehend what that means.

And the sad part about it, it's not just the debt that you hear about- But Highway Trust Fund is going bankrupt.

Social Security- You're a young guy, are, will you ever see your Social Security?

Probably not at the level that you should.

It's your money you're paying into it.

So that was, that's been very frustrating to me.

And, I... I feel that if we continue down this path, we're going to, we'll soon come to a dead stop with countries not buying our bonds.

Where we're running deficits, we're reducing them.

But I see the same thing there that I see in, in, Columbia.

And Washington, D.C.

is corrupt, the lobbyist run it.

And you career politicians that I think the, the reelection rate for politicians that are incumbents is, 90 something percent of them get reelected.

And, it's got to change.

The only way you're gonna change that is change the people.

> And to that end, before we jump into some state stuff, when you talk about this fiscal, you know, not being, the spending not being sustainable enough.

How concerned are you about this current war we're in with Iran and how much that costs every day?

Where do you stand on that situation when you look at the fiscal means?

> It's interesting, the Democrat Party, which has opposed this president at every level.

They're talking about the cost of the war.

What about the cost of letting 20 million illegals get in this country?

What about the cost of... you know, one program after another spiraling out of control?

What about the, the taxes that are robbing the people all over America?

And depending on what state, at different levels.

The war in Iran, they were the number one sponsor of terror.

They've been, Iran has been at war with America for 48 years.

We just, there was no one willing, that had the courage to face it like Donald Trump.

And, it's no secret what they were going to do, is take out America.

And, the fact that he's, unlike Obama, who gave them money, to pay bribe money, which is well publicized.

And what Donald Trump did to take them out... so that we wouldn't be on the receiving end of the bombs that they're having now.

And he said all along, they're not going to make a nuclear weapon.

That being said, is a costly?

Yeah.

But if you cut the waste, fraud, and abuse that's in Washington, you could easily balance this budget in a short period of time and pay for the war.

If we let our military get to... not the level that he is taking it then will cease to exist as a country.

We've got countries that don't like us.

Iran was number one.

China, Russia, North Korea and others.

Gavin> So I guess, whatever it takes to kind of keep people safe and secure, at this point.

Rep.

Norman> Absolutely.

And, you know... our law enforcement are some of the most courageous people, ICE agents are some of the most courageous people that are arresting criminals off the streets of this country.

And the New Democrat Party is the new Socialist Marxist Party.

They want to turn this country over to the criminals.

They just do.

The sole reason, and I saw this day one, when Biden opened up the borders, was to create a voting class to keep them in power.

And it's not working.

And the President's making sure of that.

So... all that to be said is, you know, it's going to take the states to correct, what's happening in, in Washington.

Gavin> So, segue with that and working with that, that topic right there.

Tell me about, you know, what you saw when you were in Washington and then what you're seeing here in Columbia.

What prompted you to run?

Because we were talking when you filed earlier today and you were saying that you never really actually thought you'd be running for governor.

But things have lined up.

You've seen the field and that you had no choice but to jump in.

So what's motivating you to run for governor right now?

Rep.

Norman> The thing that prompted me, and if you'd asked me two years ago, "was this on my radar?"

No.

I mean, I was doing a great job.

I love the constituent service part of the Fifth District.

That's why they elected me.

When they called, I returned their call.

When they had a problem, you know, I've tried my best to fix it.

Now, did I fix every problem?

No.

But they got a call back, and I treated them with, respect and dignity.

And, so, "why am I doing it now?"

All the candidates, now that are running for governor they're good people, I know them all well.

They are part of the system.

I'm not part of the system.

By system, I mean, where have they been for the last... I think we talked about, those who've, who are running against me for governor, who have held office, where have they been?

In one case, thirteen years.

Where is the change in the judicial system?

Where is the reduction of taxes?

Where is the fixing our roads and bridges?

Where is all the things they're talking about?

With the, Lieutenant Governor, eight years.

Where have they been?

I mean, they... there's three offices that can command a press conference like we're doing here today governor, lieutenant governor, and AG, attorney general.

They can call a press conference, whenever.

Name me one press conference they've had?

I really, my blood runs, hot when I think about what I will do differently is what I'm doing now.

I'll sit down, any of the things that I'm advocating for I'm gonna sit down... look you and the camera in the eye and say, "this is what we're going to do."

And I'm going to go to every city, every county and say, "get on board with us."

I don't think the elected representatives are going to do that by themselves.

Gavin> What about the reality of just the, the limitations of the office as governor?

You know you can only do so much.

You can only do so much as a congressman.

I mean, don't you see some limitations there in terms of what we can actually accomplish?

Rep.

Norman> Look, if you're in the business arena, you have limitations every day.

You have problems, that you face.

Look at law enforcement.

They don't know the situation they go into.

They adapt, they- In the business arena... I learned from my mistakes when I lost money and, but you change, you adapt.

Now I've heard since I got in.

Oh, you got a weak, governor, you can't do anything.

That's a cop-out.

Here's what I will do.

As governor, I can command a press conference.

I will use the line-item veto.

I will use the veto.

But even more importantly, I'm not asking anybody to do anything that, that I won't go to them first and say, "I need your buy-in.

I need you to get that representative in line.

I need you to talk to them."

And guess what?

I will call their donors and tell them, those who, those who are trying to impede the system behind, underneath.

Because if you look in South Carolina, a supermajority of Republicans who campaign on less government, less taxes, less regulation, look at where we are.

We're state that's grown government 48 percent.

And for ten years we've doubled it.

And our infrastructure is crumbling.

Name me one- If you run a car out of oil and, out of, any type maintenance, you implode.

I'm not letting South Carolina implode.

And, it means focusing on the things that you can, that we can keep this state thriving and attract new businesses.

I don't know too many states that are falling down that people are moving to.

As an example, California.

Where are people going?

South Carolina.

New York, the idiot that's trying to put government controlling everything, Mamdani.

Where are they coming?

I see the tags.

South Carolina.

We're the number one suitcase in this state, in the country.

And I'm simply not letting South Carolina- And that is fueling me to put my name on the line to spend the next, however long, what, 85 days campaigning.

And telling people my story and let them choose.

Gavin> We have extended interviews with both candidates, coverage from the campaign trail, and much more at YouTube.com/@SCETVnews And that's it for us this week.

For South Carolina ETV, I'm Gavin Jackson.

Be well, South Carolina.

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